August deadline for air cargo screening stokes fears

FEARS have again been raised that mandatory security screening for air cargo on passenger aircraft from August 1 will increase costs and cause delays at large US airports.

Both Miami International Airport as well Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will be affected, reports The Miami Herald. It noted that in 2009 the Broward airport handled 90,432 tons of air freight, compared to 1.67 million tons at MIA. "Moreover, only a very small percentage of Fort Lauderdale's passenger flights will be impacted by the new rule," said an airport statement.

American Airlines is said to have been working hard to prepare for the deadline. "We've spent well over US$10 million on a variety of technological applications to comply with TSA screening rules nationwide," David Brooks, president of American Airlines Cargo Division, was quoted as saying during a recent panel discussion in Washington, DC.

American has no freighters, but carries all cargo in the bellies of passenger aircraft.

"Over the last three years, the law has stepped us up [to 75 per cent], so we're not starting at zero," he added. "But the remainder will be the most challenging, because it will be consignments with the largest piece counts," which are harder to screen.

One big problem will be pallets that contain hundreds of individual pieces of freight. The entire pallet cannot be scanned because the materials often have different densities. The pallet must be broken down so that individual packages can be scanned or opened for examination, the report said.

"Screening at the airline dock is a very expensive and time consuming process," Mr Brooks said. "Ultimately, any additional costs will fall upon the shoulders of the consumers."

Some in the air cargo industry believe that many companies, including shippers and freight forwarders, are not ready to meet the deadline.

"It's going to be a nightmare," said Gary Goldfarb, executive vice president of WTDC, a Miami-based supply chain management company. "You're going to have a line of trucks waiting to have their cargo screened at the [Miami] airport. A lot of freight forwarders haven't paid attention to the August 1 deadline yet. They expect the TSA regulation will be delayed or postponed," he added.

Under the law, airlines are ultimately responsible for screening. However, air carriers complain they do not have the space at airports to store large volumes of unscreened cargo.

"I'm not worried about small airports," said Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association, a trade group based in Washington. "Where we really see [screening] as an issue is in New York, Chicago, Miami, gateway airports with wide-bodied passenger planes. The more prudent course is to have screening done outside the airport."
(Source:www.schednet.com)