Hold Baggage Reconciliation

Hold Baggage Reconciliation. Six years after the events of 9/11, it’s clear for all involved in the airline industry that security measures implemented at airports underwent through a significant reinforcement, thus strengthening the prevention of terrorist acts against civil aviation.

Slowly, airline travellers have acquired the necessary confidence to travel with no fear and at the same time, the strength of the security measures which they are subjected at airports became a normal and acceptable act. It’s quite common nowadays to witness business or leisure travellers taking off their shoes or striping their jackets at airport screening points without causing any major disruption on the normal passenger’s flow or airport activity.

Hold baggage screening, although not directly visible to the public, represents an important tool on preventing terrorist acts against civil aviation. Technology acquired significant improvements over the past years and, undoubtedly, they reached a high level of sophistication and credibility.

However, shall we fully rely on it? I’m sure we shouldn’t! Whilst the aim of the security equipment’s manufacturers is to reach a perfect instrument, criminals struggle with hammer and tongs to find a way to breach the system. In that way, we shall not simply rely on the hold baggage screening, no matter all steps taken to enhance its performance.

Therefore, at present, although we are fully aware that 100% of hold baggage is appropriate screened, on the other hand, we are not quite sure that 100% of hold bags loaded into an aircraft are clean. Having said that, it only remains to strictly apply to the well known ICAO standard on baggage reconciliation, prescribed on Annex 17, which states that “Each Contracting State shall ensure that commercial air transport operators do not transport the baggage of passengers who are not on board the aircraft unless that baggage is identified as unaccompanied and subjected to additional screening”.

The Pan Am incident in Lockerbie, Scotland, 1988 (270 casualties) is an obvious and regrettable example of what I’m attempting to stress. In order to guarantee that hold baggage reconciliation, whatever means might be used to achieve it, automated or manually, is fully implemented and a must for all staff engaged on baggage handling, the solution lies on an effective and consistent security awareness training.

All of us are aware that the right balance between security and facilitation is always difficult to attain. Airline industry represents business, which means speediness and quick answers; on the other hand security normally means slowness and studied answers. For this purpose, hold baggage reconciliation shall never be questioned; it’s still a reliable and effective method to prevent an act of unlawful interference, no matter the delays or operational disruption it may cause when one or more passengers fail to board the aircraft at the very last minute.

Contact:

António Sousa
Security Manager PGA Portugália Airlines