Security Rules Still In Flux - 2006-09-11

The fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks dawns today with corporate travel professionals all too aware that the threat and disruption to aviation posed by terrorism has not diminished in half a decade. That danger was underlined once again on Aug. 10, when British police disrupted an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners using liquid explosives.

One month later and travel managers still are assessing the consequences. In the short term, these include confusion for travelers over what may be carried as hand baggage, with different countries (and sometimes even different airports within the same country) applying different restrictions. Longer term, buyers are pondering whether trip volumes might decline as the difficulty of carrying an overnight kit onboard wears down travelers' determination to fly.

Another result of Aug. 10 is that the European Commission has started to consider allowing member states routine access to all passenger name records. Paradoxically, this same development proved highly controversial in Europe when introduced by the United States two years ago.

The most immediate concern for travel managers, however, is advising travelers of permissable carry-ons when traveling overseas. Several countries have followed the U.K. government's lead and banned liquids from being taken through security checks and restricting hand luggage to one item with maximum dimensions of 45 cm x 35 cm x 16 cm. Others have made no changes. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration responded by imposing stricter security measures for air travelers, including bolstered checkpoint screening and a policy that forbids certain liquids and gels, including beverages, from being carried on board. TSA said the measures "will be evaluated and updated when circumstances warrant."

TSA clarified its requirement that all passengers remove shoes as they move through security checkpoints. While U.K. authorities placed stricter rules on the passage of carry-on luggage, TSA said passengers still may bring carry-on bags as well as such electrical devices as laptop computers, cell phones, MP3 players and other portable electronics.

TSA slightly relaxed an initial list of prohibited carry-on items that included all liquids and gels. Specifically, TSA refined the rules to allow for small amounts of baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling, as well as liquid prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger's ticket. TSA, however, ruled out beverages and other liquids.

"Beverages purchased in the boarding area beyond the screening checkpoint will not be allowed on board, and must be consumed before boarding," TSA said in a statement. "We suggest that you pack all liquids and gels including shampoo, toothpaste, perfume, hair gel, suntan lotion and all other items with similar consistency in your checked baggage to minimize any delays at the screening checkpoint."

Given the restrictions, TSA said the level of checked baggage increased 20 percent, but Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said TSA was handling the increased baggage flow and continued to screen 100 percent of checked bags.

Calyon Securities airline analyst Ray Neidl late last month noted, "The TSA and flying public seem to be adjusting to the tighter security, with checked baggage up an estimated 20 percent to 40 percent as a result."

Neidl added that the increasingly stringent boarding requirements had minimal adverse financial effects on the airlines, and even saw some of its consequences as a positive for the industry. "Although there may be some additional costs associated with handling this baggage and possibly some lost freight revenue, we believe this change, if it lasts, will be a net positive," Neidl said in a research note. "With less carry-on luggage, less time is required to advance through the security checkpoints and the enplaning and deplaning processes also take less time. We believe these factors will in turn reduce delays as well as the associated costs, making the actual flying experience a little less stressful for passengers, flight crews and security personnel, in our opinion."

Meanwhile, other governments have not communicated their new arrangements with any clarity, if at all. "We are finding it literally impossible to find the information," said a spokeswoman for British Airways, which as a result has decided not to attempt to provide country-by-country information on its Web site.

EasyJet has published a list of rule changes in numerous countries (see chart, page 36), but its list does not agree with the one used internally at BA.

Ryanair's Web site refers to changes in only four European countries: the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Portugal.

At one point, Frankfurt Airport was forbidding liquids in hand luggage for flights departing from gates near to U.S.-bound aircraft, yet operating normally elsewhere.

The Association of European Airlines has called on national governments to start applying consistent standards. It also is one of several voices calling for less draconian restrictions. The new maximum bag dimensions introduced in the United Kingdom and elsewhere equate to roughly the size of a laptop bag, considerably reduced from the previous internationally recognized carry-on standard of 55 cm x 45 cm x 20 cm.

The need to pack smaller is compounded by the ban in the United States, United Kingdom and many other countries on liquids other than small quantities of essential medicines. Airlines are hoping to see an allowance of small volumes of nonessential liquids, as has been made moot by the Transportation Security Administration, and the return of larger bag sizes.

"We are pushing very hard for our business travelers to be allowed to carry enough on board for two to three days," according to Richard Tams, U.K. & Ireland head of corporate sales for BA. "This is understandable, short-term, but long-term we have to address the security problem in a better way."

AEA fears business travel will decline if the present restrictions continue. "Around half of air travelers carry hand luggage only," said trade and social affairs manager Julia Egerer. "This is going to disrupt air travel as we know it. Passengers will think twice about taking a trip."

Travel managers on both sides of the Atlantic have mixed views about how employees will respond. A survey of buyers by the National Business Travel Association found that 25 percent of 124 respondents believe their travel volumes will dip.

However, Estée Lauder director of travel services Cindy Shumate said, "Our travelers have adjusted quickly to not carrying luggage through. It is business as usual. We haven't seen travel volumes drop." ON Semiconductor strategic sourcing manager Colleen Guhin said, similarly, "Things are settling down. People will adjust. It isn't that much of an inconvenience."

Despite some initial cancellations, the Air Transport Association said U.S. airlines quickly were back to operating their normal schedules. Neidl further noted that advance bookings were holding steady following the scare.

The American Small Business Travelers Alliance said "the recent unsuccessful terrorist attempt on U.S. airlines has done little to curtail the domestic and international travel of small business travelers." In a survey released late last month of 219 business travelers, 89 percent said the recent events in London would not curtail domestic business travel plans, while slightly more—91 percent—said it would change upcoming international travel plans. Furthermore, 31 percent said recent changes to security procedures were not stringent enough, as 29 percent said they were adequate and 26 percent said they were too stringent.

Opinions in Europe are less sure. "In its own right, it is not a substantial factor," said Paul Tilstone, executive director of the Institute of Travel Management for the U.K. & Ireland, "but if you combine it with growing concerns about the environmental impact of flying, work/life balance and the threat to staff when abroad, then it could lead to companies considering whether they really need to travel."

Peter Sijbers, Netherlands-based global commodity manager for air travel at Philips Electronics, takes an even stronger view. "Travel is becoming a real burden," Sijbers said. "This could definitely lead to a decline in business volumes."

Sijbers urged travel managers to understand the significance of terror and counter-terror campaigns for their business strategies. "The threat of a terror attack has more influence on how companies organize their travel than anything else," he said. "The current discussion about global distribution systems is peanuts in comparison."

Sijbers believes businesses need to review their travel policy in the light of the recent changes. For instance, indirect flights might be considered less acceptable if the time for collecting bags off carousels is added to the time spent changing aircraft. Furthermore, the majority of mislaid checked bags belong to passengers in transit. Sijbers said businesses may have to give the use of private aircraft another look and said secondary and regional airports may receive a boost because processing of passengers tends to be quicker on both departure and arrival.

Meanwhile, in response to pressure from the U.K. government in particular, European Commission vice president Franco Frattini responded to the Aug. 10 crisis by drawing up plans that would give member states access to PNRs, most likely restricted to the same 34 fields of data that the commission allows the U.S. government to see. Ironically, this move comes as the commission frames a new deal to permit U.S. access to PNRs after the European Court of Justice struck down the previous deal for breaching the jurisdiction of member states. Observers expect officials to put a new temporary agreement in place by the Sept. 30 deadline, with a more permanent deal to follow late next year.

European associations representing travel buyers, agents and airlines have expressed concern on the grounds of cost, practicality and rationale. "We would need some very strong reasons to open up more information and we would want to see some heavy commitments on who gets access to it and how they use it as well as very strong sunset clauses," said Philip Carlisle, chief executive of the U.K.'s Guild of Travel Management Companies.