Picture: Brandon Fried receives a token of appreciation for service to the air cargo industry from president, Cargo Network Services, Alicia Lines
Airforwarders Association (AfA) executive director Brandon Fried has warned against US government plans to cut and privatize elements of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), saying that it would risk undermining aviation security measures established after 9/11.
He told the CNS Partnership Conference in San Francisco on 19 May: “The lessons of September 11 are clear, and the stakes are too high for failure. Any move to weaken federal oversight of passenger screening risks reintroducing vulnerabilities the system was designed to eliminate.”
Federalization of passenger screening under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act was in response to systemic weaknesses exposed prior to September 11, when outsourced security contracts often prioritized cost over effectiveness.
Fried argued that freight forwarders built an effective security model through the Known Shipper program, Certified Cargo Screening Program, and Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS).
They allow certified operators to screen cargo before it reaches airports and submit advance data before departure, while TSA, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and industry maintain national standards and accountability.
AfA says that this model should not be used to justify passenger screening privatization, where fragmented procurement and contracts driven by cost were among the weaknesses federalization was designed to address.
Fried added: “The air cargo industry has shown that public-private partnerships can work, but only when there is strong federal oversight setting the standards and enforcing compliance. “Applying this model to passenger screening without strict TSA oversight would significantly increase risk.”
The Association called on policymakers to reject proposals to privatize passenger screening and instead maintain and strengthen TSA authority to ensure consistent, nationwide aviation security standards.
