Discover how the US is proposing a groundbreaking “one-stop” security agreement with India to streamline airport screenings and enhance global aviation safety. This concept aims to eliminate redundant security checks for passengers with connecting flights, allowing seamless transit and secure handling of baggage between aircraft. Such an agreement could set new standards for aviation security worldwide, promising to reduce costs, shorten layover times, and improve the overall travel experience. As discussions unfold, find out how this partnership could reshape air travel between two major nations and beyond.
The US transport security organization has sought a unique “one-stop agreement” with India to avoid passenger rescreening, claiming that the “really powerful” notion will boost global aviation security standards.
Addressing the India-US Aviation Summit on Tuesday, David Pekoske, Administrator of the US Transportation Security Administration (USTSA), stated that the one-stop security concept is “very reachable” between the countries.
“I think very tangible and very reachable between India and the United States is one-stop security,” according to him.
“It’s a concept that expedites the flow of passengers and baggage to their destinations by eliminating the duplication of security controls at transfer points,” Pekoske said.
He stated that under a one-stop agreement, travelers who arrive at an airport in another country and then connect to a domestic flight would not be rescreened, and their checked bags would be transferred from aircraft to aircraft.
Pekoske described it as a “really powerful” notion that improves worldwide aviation security.
“Flights inbound to the United States are more secure. If there’s a reverse agreement between the United States and India where US screening satisfies Indian requirements, that means that flights to India would also be more secure. It does require the regular exchange of information,” he said.
“It requires improvements to security processes to maintain the agreement. It yields a reduction in security costs through better allocation of resources, reduces flight connection times and missed connections, and improves the passenger experience,” he said.
Pekoske stated that the two countries should explore negotiating a memorandum of understanding to discuss sensitive security information.
“We have a category of classification of information that is not classified in the true sense of classified material, but it is sensitive enough that it needs additional protections,” according to him.
He stated that if sensitive security information is shared, which is vital to a growing collaboration, a memorandum of agreement is required that includes all facets of that sharing arrangement.
He pointed out that both the TSA and India’s transportation security posture were the result of a sad catastrophe.
For India, it was the bombing of Air India’s ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 in 1985, while for the TSA, it was the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
“These tragic events were paradigm shifts in how we both thought about transportation security that continues today,” he told me.
Meanwhile, addressing the summit, US Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Whitaker stated that India and the United States must collaborate on matters such as aviation safety.
Asserting that safety is a team sport, he stated that sharing data between the two countries can help to better identify and mitigate hazards in the sector.
“Our (US and India’s) national systems of aviation are inextricably linked into a single global network,” he said, adding that the two counties have adjoining air spaces, integrated supply chains, and international services that connect their economies and people.
“We need to work together on issues like safety, we need to share ideas and share innovations, especially in how to safely incorporate some of these new technologies into our airspace,” he said.
Noting that the two countries’ systems will approach problem-solving differently, he stated, “We can and should collaborate to share best practices and learn from one another.” “We all have an interest in increasing safety within our respective countries, but we must work together to increase the level of safety in the global aviation system,” according to him.
“This means sharing data. Sharing information allows us to better identify and mitigate risks before those risks become accidents and even before they become failures to the safety layers in our system,” he added.
“When I started in aviation, accidents were unfortunately not uncommon. They were almost annual events, and safety regulators learned from those accidents and made the system safer,” he said.
“For the past couple of decades, we’ve moved beyond that model, and accidents are now extremely rare, and they are simply unacceptable as an outcome,” Whitaker said.
“Our challenge is to bring safety to the next level, and that means we need to proactively analyze data and find those risks of failure and mitigate those risks before they happen,” he said.
He asserted that all job categories in the aviation business are in great demand, stating that “for regulators, it means new questions about how we oversee those operations”.
“We have to find a safe yet nimble way to regulate these new entrants who are operating at the speed of a startup while we are operating at the speed of government, he said.
He also stated that there is a need to work out how to bridge the gap, detect these hazards, and use technology to securely integrate them into the airspace.
“In the US, we’ve seen the public perception of safety and risk in the system evolve over time. As more people have access to aviation, the expectation grows that the system will be completely safe,” he asserted.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that, according to Nikita Kondratyev, head of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects at the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, a visa-free travel agreement between Russia and India is likely by the end of 2024.
