By
Erik Hastings

On Christmas Day in 2009 an airline passenger tried to blow up a commercial Trans-Atlantic flight with materials he smuggled in his underwear. Based on this, I have created the Passenger Security Blueprint. Airport screening changes are needed now and these ideas may help deter the criminal element and protect us from future threats.

Intelligence Gathering
The first line of defense in the war on aviation terrorism is gathering information about people who want to terrorize innocent bystanders. This is protection at its finest; it’s covert and expensive. I’m all in favor of small government, but NOT when it comes to protecting its citizens. Keep the dollars flowing to the agencies responsible for gathering and analyzing information on terrorists. The second type of intelligence gathering needed is passenger information.

Sharing Information
As far as I understand, there are two passenger lists in existence as it pertains to passengers and commercial aviation. The first list is a “watch list” containing about a half a million names.  People on this list may be subject to additional screening at the airport. The second list (which has about 50,000 names on it) is a “no-fly” list; meaning these people will not be permitted to fly. I can’t say whether we need more lists but sharing this information between government agencies, law enforcement and the airlines is critical.

Creating a Temporary File
Personal information (and who has access to it) is a major factor when redesigning passenger safety procedures. However, gathering information about passengers and tracking them on their flight day  is necessary. It is for this reason, I believe a temporary electronic file should be created when a commercial airline reservation is made (this information is deleted the moment a passenger claims their luggage). The airlines are responsible for keeping these temporary files, but only for their passengers. In addition, they are required to share this information with Governments under extraordinary circumstances.  Confirming identity, screening carry-on luggage and walking through the airport is time consuming and should be administered in stages.  It is because of this that all passenger information will be fed to this temporary file in stages (see below).

Risk Assessment Score
By feeding personal information into a temporary file, a point-value “risk assessment” score can be determined prior to exiting second screening. In addition to tracking a passenger's movements in the airport, the following information is also gathered (in stages) and stored in your “temporary file”. Name, home address, date of birth, credit card number (used to purchase the ticket), passport number and photo, and fingerprint. 

First Screening
Under this plan, when a passenger walks through the terminal door, they are required to swipe their passport. No picture verification or travel document verification is necessary at this point. Everybody entering (and exiting) an airport terminal (for any reason) will be required to swipe a valid passport. The first screening is passive but the anticipated passenger movement is being verified. In other words, by the existence of your reservation, the airline is expecting certain passengers. Under this plan, airports have a better understanding of WHO is in the terminals.  Based on this, individuals will then be classified under "passenger names", "law enforcement", "employees" or "other".

Airline Check In
At this point, (much like today), passengers proceed to their departure airlines' check in counter (or kiosk) where they print boarding passes and check in luggage.  While individual airlines can determine how many carry on items per passenger they allow, the second security screening (see next paragraph) only allows one small purse or briefcase per passenger. This means, the additional carry on bag will also be checked at the airline counter. This carry on is screened and delivered to the passenger's seat. Current carry-on guidelines still apply (size appropriate gels, liquids etc). The additional security  measure here is a passenger fingerprint imprint.  This transaction is added to the temporary passenger file. 

Second Screening
Entrance to second screening is regulated in terms of time relevant to the departure time. This screening will be administered by the airline and airport personnel. Monitors will be  placed above the second screening area to signal which flights/passengers are allowed through this checkpoint. The purpose of the second screening is to confirm identity (passport photo to passenger), verify travel documents, passenger physical exam and carry-on screening. Second screening would look similar to today's TSA checkpoint. The layout is configured with three passenger lines; First/Business (and Crew), One Carry-On Item, and No Carry-On Items. It is at this moment  the individual passengers' "risk-assessment score" is reviewed by the airline. This score was calculated as a result of the contents of the passengers temporary file.  Airlines will have the option of denying boarding to a passenger before they leave second screening.

The Gate Area
Because the time passengers spend between the second screening and boarding has been dramatically reduced, their is no need for a lot of other activity at the gate areas. In the event a flight does not take off with its passengers, the passengers will be escorted through the arrivals passenger traffic area (and not back to the gate area). They will have to go through second screening when the flight is rescheduled to depart. This concept may sound more radical than it really is. Under this plan, passengers will no longer have to wait in the gate area more than 10 minutes. If the sudden departure delay is longer than 20 minutes, then passengers will be released back to the terminal. However, these types of instances will be rare.

Boarding
The boarding process will remain similar to today's practices.

Inbound from Outside the US
Even if the US government and all domestic carriers agreed to this plan, it may be difficult to convince other countries to adopt our new screening procedures. However, the US can require the airlines to provide the same "risk assessment" information (listed in the previous paragraph) from all US bound passengers "x" amount of hours prior to their departure.

Commercial Carriers
Flying commercially is not a right. Airlines are in business to make a profit, but they also have to make the final decision as to who they want on board their aircraft. For this reason, individual carriers may decide to add additional security measures including retinal scans, hiring air marshals for all flights, and/or other deterrents.

Employees/Cargo
In a future update, I’ll address better screening for airline employees, airport employees, cargo and ANYONE who has access to planes.

My Passenger Security Blueprint calls for better electronic infrastructure on the part of the US intelligence community and better information sharing between agencies and the airlines. Long-term, this plan calls for a better airport design and layout. Of course it will be expensive, but I believe the airlines and the local and federal government should share in the cost. It is this kind of cooperation that will keep us safer in the skies.