A day after pressing Europe’s governments, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano gained the support of the world’s airlines for Washington’s goal of ramping up aviation security to keep terrorists off planes.
Napolitano met on Friday with the global industry group for airlines and more than two dozen chief executives of major carriers, telling a news conference in Geneva that industry and governments would work closely on improving data collection, information sharing, passenger vetting and other security standards.
“We must move as an international community of responsible nations to deal with any threats to aviation security,” she said.
“Governments and the carriers themselves need to work together to improve the air environment.” she said.
Napolitano was on the second stop of a tour to toughen global flight regulations after meeting on Thursday with European justice ministers, many of whom are wary about body scanners the US wants to use to enhance airport screening. She said on Friday that Washington believes in the technology but wasn’t demanding the same from other nations with privacy concerns.
The meeting with industry was hailed by the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents about 230 airlines responsible for 90 percent of all flight traffic.
Giovanni Bisignani compared Napolitano’s approach favorably to that of her predecessors in the administration of former US president George W. Bush.
On security issues, “the previous administration said: ‘we decide and you implement,’” Bisignani said.
“We were caught in a trap. Our life was impossible,” he said.
The IATA and the Department of Homeland Security released similar statements with strategies for improving the security of passenger planes, stressing the need for better and more efficient systems to collect data on passengers and share the information among governments and airlines.
But some differences remained, not least concerning US$6 billion in security costs that airlines say they are footing.
Bisignani said security was the top priority of airlines, but insisted that companies would need some flexibility in order to operate in various countries with sometimes opposing regulations.
He stressed the need for greater harmonization among national authorities so that a carrier is not torn between different rules in the countries where an international flight takes of from and lands.
As half of all passengers flying to the US are traveling on foreign airlines, better coordination between the US and other governments was essential, he said.
“We have to evolve,” Bisignani said. “We have to avoid increasing the level of hassle as we increase the level of security.”
Another issue concerns how passenger data is transmitted to authorities, Bisignani said.
After the terrorist attacks in the US in 2001, airlines had to send passenger data to six different agencies of Homeland Security, he said, adding that a single data collection program would be the best solution.
‘SHARP COMPETITION’: Australia is to partner with US-based Lockheed Martin to make guided multiple launch rocket systems, an Australian defense official said Australia is to ramp up missile manufacturing under a plan unveiled yesterday by a top defense official, who said bolstering weapons stockpiles would help keep would-be foes at bay. Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said the nation would establish a homegrown industry to produce long-range guided missiles and other much-needed munitions. “Why do we need more missiles? Strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment,” Conroy said in a speech. “That competition is at its sharpest in our region, the Indo-Pacific.” Australia is to partner with US-based weapons giant Lockheed Martin to make
BEYOND WASHINGTON: Although historically the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises, Jakarta has been trying to diversify its partners, an analyst said Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto would seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts said. Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta. “It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter
TIGHT CAMPAIGN: Although Harris got a boost from an Iowa poll, neither candidate had a margin greater than three points in any of the US’ seven battleground states US Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in the final days before the election, as she and former US president and Republican presidential nominees make a frantic last push to win over voters in a historically close campaign. The first lines Harris spoke as she sat across from Maya Rudolph, their outfits identical, was drowned out by cheers from the audience. “It is nice to see you Kamala,” Harris told Rudolph with a broad grin she kept throughout the sketch. “And I’m just here to remind you, you got this.” In sync, the two said supporters
Pets are not forgotten during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, when even Fido and Tiger get a place at the altars Mexican families set up to honor their deceased loved ones, complete with flowers, candles and photographs. Although the human dead usually get their favorite food or drink placed on altars, the nature of pet food can make things a little different. The holiday has roots in Mexican pre-Hispanic customs, as does the reverence for animals. The small, hairless dogs that Mexicans kept before the Spanish conquest were believed to help guide their owners to the afterlife, and were sometimes given
RSS