Airport liquid ban to remain until 2013
It looks like according to reports from Britain that the European Union (E.U.) is going to keep the ban on liquids in place within Europe for at least the next three years. Some reports indicate that with the introduction of new detection equipment, some airports will start allowing liquids. But that possibility is uncertain at best.
The ban on carrying liquids, aerosols and gels above 100ml in hand luggage will remain in place until 29 April 2013 if a revised timetable drawn up last week by security officials from member states is rubber-stamped by the European parliament.
The draft regulation, seen by the Guardian, raises the possibility of a two-tier airport security system by allowing individual airports to lift volume restrictions on liquids as soon as they buy the correct screening machinery. Under such a scenario, passengers could shuttle between airports where liquids are unrestricted and smaller destinations where they will be forced to dump or check in drinks, toiletries and perfume above a certain size.
The Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee looks to delay FAA reauthorization
Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is proposing the March extension. This extension delays other attached portions of the overall bill such as the tarmac-delay rules and the House bill’s airline alliance sunset provisions. This is not good news for industry members looking for a build out of the modernized air traffic system.
Senate lawmakers are considering another three-month extension to FAA’s operating authority, the clearest signal yet that a full reauthorization bill is not expected to be passed this year.
The current extension expires Dec. 31, so a further one would extend through the end of March. This would be the eighth extension to FAA’s operating authority since the last one expired about two years ago. And this may not even be the last — the first part of 2010 will be busy for Congress and the administration, so it is very likely that another extension will be needed at least into the summer.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) questions airport security measures
At a meeting in South Africa, members of IATA noted what they considered overkill in airline security. The group argues that security risks “must be prioritized to allocate resources where they are most needed.”
Blindly spending to keep screening honest travelers rather than focus on high-priority targets is ineffective in the fight against terrorism.
IATA told an aviation security conference in Cape Town this week that ineffective duplication of security procedures for passengers needed to be abolished.
Kurt Larsen, director-general of the Danish civil aviation administration, said governments were imposing too many layers of security. “We are spending too much time on screening low-risk passengers instead of identifying high-risk passengers.”
He said draconian measures adopted after the September 11 attacks on the US were meant to appease a fearful public and were not necessarily effective security.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
