1-34 - Airport Magazine · ROD DINGER, Redding, California LINDA G. FRANKL, Columbus, Ohio ... SITA VP – Airport Services Catherine Mayer talks baggage …

E D I T O R I A L B O A R DWILLIAM G. BARKHAUER

Morristown, New JerseyBRYAN ELLIOTT

Charlottesville, VirginiaBILL HOGAN

Reynolds, Smith, & HillsJAMES E. JOHNSON

Odessa, FloridaRANDY D. POPE

Burns & McDonnell

A A A E B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

C H A I RKRYS T. BART, Reno, Nevada

F I R S T V I C E C H A I RJAMES P. ELWOOD, Aspen, Colorado

S E C O N D V I C E C H A I RJOHN K. DUVAL, Boston, Massachusetts

S E C R E T A R Y / T R E A S U R E RJAMES E. BENNETT, Washington, D.C.

F I R S T P A S T C H A I RELAINE ROBERTS, Columbus, Ohio

S E C O N D P A S T C H A I RR. LOWELL PRATTE, Louisville, Kentucky

B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R SSTEPHEN J. ADAMS, JR., Manchester, New Hampshire

LORI L. BECKMAN, Denver, ColoradoJEFF BILYEU, Conroe, Texas

GARY CYR, Springield, MissouriBENJAMIN R. DECOSTA, Atlanta, Georgia

KEVIN A. DILLON, Manchester, New HampshireROD DINGER, Redding, California

LINDA G. FRANKL, Columbus, OhioMICHAEL J. HANEY, Moline, Illinois

GARY L. JOHNSON, Stillwater, OklahomaALEX M. KASHANI, Washington, D.C.

SCOTT MALTA, Atwater, CaliforniaJEFFREY MULDER, Tulsa, Oklahoma

ROBERT P. OLISLAGERS, Englewood, ColoradoLISA A. PYLES, Addison, Texas

WAYNE SHANK, Norfolk, Virgina

C H A P T E R P R E S I D E N T SLEW BLEIWEIS, Louisville, Kentucky

BERN CASE, Medford, OregonGARY JOHNSON, Stillwater, Oklahoma

BRADLEY PENROD, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaGARY RICE, Santa Maria, California

ROBERT WORKING, Evansville, Indiana

P O L I C Y R E V I E W C O M M I T T E EWILLIAM G. BARKHAUER, Morristown, New Jersey

THELLA F. BOWENS, San Diego, CaliforniaMARK P. BREWER, Warwick, Rhode Island

TIMOTHY L. CAMPBELL, Baltimore, MarylandCHERYL COHEN-VADER, Denver International Airport

LARRY D. COX, Memphis, TennesseeALFONSO DENSON, Birmingham, AlabamaKENT G. GEORGE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

MICHAEL A. GOBB, Lexington, KentuckySEAN HUNTER, New Orleans. Louisiana

CHARLES J. ISDELL, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaTHOMAS J. KINTON, JR., Boston, Massachusetts

MARK KRANENBURG, Oklahoma City, OklahomaLYNN F. KUSY, Mesa, Arizona

ERIN M. O’DONNELL, Chicago, IllinoisMORTON V. PLUMB, Anchorage, Alaska

MARK M. REIS, Seattle, WashingtonMAUREEN RILEY, Salt Lake City, Utah

LESTER W. ROBINSON, Detroit, MichiganJAMES R. SMITH, Newport News, Virginia

RICKY SMITH, Cleveland, OhioMARK WEBB, San Antonio, TX

P R E S I D E N TCHARLES M. BARCLAY, Alexandria, Virginia

M A G A Z I N E

Volume 19/ Number 4 | June/July 2007

f e a t u r e s

cover: Wildlife Management(1 of 2) Man Vs. Nature | 27Airports are constantly fighting a high-stakes battle against mother nature’s creatures.

(2 of 2) Striking Developments | 30Increased reporting and better technology are giving industry unparalleled intelligence on bird strike trends.

Court CaseCase Closed | 24In “City of Dania Beach, Florida, et al. v. Federal Aviation Administration,” thecourt holds FAA must follow its own runway use procedures.

Ramp Security Ramp Clampdown | 43Awareness and adherence to policy may help the industry avoid 100-percentemployee physical screening.

Baggage HandlingFirst Person: Catherine Mayer | 48SITA VP – Airport Services Catherine Mayer talks baggage handling technologywith Airport Magazine.

d e p a r t m e n t s

Inner Marker 6

Up Front 9

Market Scan 21

Corporate Outlook 23

Retail Spotlight 37

Measure of the Month 39

Airport Spotlight 40

General Aviation 51

Airport Tech 52

Billboard 54

Plane Sight 58

coming in Airport MagazineInternational security developments (August/September)

Biometric security at airports (December/January 2008)

Architecture/engineering/construction (December/January 2008)

Cover Design: Katy O’Donovan-Peterson

27

30

43

This issue’s Inner Marker features an interest-ing letter from a reader who would like noth-ing more than to do what many of you do:

work at an airport. Read on:

Dear Mr. Broderick,

For the past 15 years, I have constantly heard thatthere is a great need for airport managers. Thatdebate has always left me scratching my headwondering how that could be true. First, let me tellyou about myself.

I decided at the age of 24 that I wanted tomanage airports. I sold my home and moved toFlorida to attend Florida Institute of Technology.Four years later, I graduated with honors and adegree in aviation management. I cannot explainthe excitement, as I started to make contacts andrealize that I may soon reach my goal. Besides thestandard excuses of hiring freezes, I could not finda job. After spending four years and fifty grand onthis education, I was no better off and even hadone manager tell me he just started his career bypicking up trash at the airport he now managed.That made me feel an education in aviation wasworthless.

Fifteen years later, I still have never had thechance to do what I always wanted. Since then, Ihave earned a masters’ degree in logistics andwork at a large corporation in the logistics divi-sion, but I still want to work in aviation. I wouldmove to any airport in the Southeastern U.S. to geta chance, but now being over 40 makes it eventougher to get looked at for positions. I must havesent 400 resumes and I have never gotten any-where with this profession. My question is with theadvanced ages of many of the airport managers,where will all the replacements come from forthese positions?

It is still my hope to work in operations at anairport somewhere in the Southeast. I love avia-tion and want to be involved with it in some way.So, the next time someone says there is a shortageof trained aviation professionals, please let them

know that we are out here waiting for someone togive us a chance.

Regards,

Glenn P. Clinger IIIEasley, S.C.

First, a few thoughts on Mr. Clinger’s letter. WhileI’m not about to challenge the value of an aviationmanagement education, I’m fairly confident in say-ing that one of the best ways to rise through theranks is to start out an airport “picking up trash.”Thanks to efforts like AAAE’s Accreditation andACE programs, airport employees at all levels haveample opportunities to further their educationswithout relying on an aviation management degree.This is one effective way to feed the pipeline,ensuring that airport managers of today will be suc-ceeded by capable managers tomorrow.

Of course, none of this helps aspiring airportworkers, like Mr. Clinger, who can’t catch the breakthey need to get into the business. AAAE offersAirportJobsOnline.com for both recruiters andaspiring job-seekers, but some airports report chal-lenges finding candidates—or the right candidates,at least—for myriad jobs. (One airport even com-missioned our ANTN multimedia division to pro-duce a recruitment video.)

Does your airport have problems filling slots? Areyou getting sufficient applications from qualifiedcandidates when you post job vacancies? If youranswers are “no” and “yes,” respectively, pleaseconsider sharing the secrets to your success withme—and we will consider sharing them, via thesepages, with others who may not be so well off. A

Sean [email protected]

iminner marker

Solving The Recruitment Riddle

Airport Magazine | June/July 20076

E D I T O RSEAN BRODERICK

[email protected]

P U B L I S H E RJOAN LOWDEN

E X E C U T I V E E D I T O RELLEN P. HORTON

D E P U T Y E D I T O RBARBARA COOK

A S S I S T A N T E D I T O RMELISSA BABULA

N E W S E D I T O RHOLLY ACKERMAN

A R T D I R E C T O R

DARYL HUMPHREY

C O N T R I B U T O R S

BRODERICK GRADY

JEFF PRICE

NINA RAO

CLIF STROUD

S T A F F P H O T O G R A P H E RJAMES MARTIN

S T A F F V I C E P R E S I D E N TS A L E S A N D M A R K E T I N G

SUSAN [email protected]

D I R E C T O RS A L E S A N D M A R K E T I N G

MIKE [email protected]

E D I T O R I A L O F F I C E 601 Madison Street, Suite 400

Alexandria, VA 22314(703) 824-0500, Ext. 126

Fax: (703) 820-1395Internet Address: www.aaae.org/magazine

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Airport Magazine is published bimonthly by the AAAE Service Corporation Inc.,

a wholly owned subsidiary of the AmericanAssociation of Airport Executives, and the

Airport Research and Development Foundation.

Subscription price for AAAE members is includedin the annual dues. U.S. subscription rate to

non-members is $45 for one year. International ratefor non-members is $75. Single copy price is $10.

Copyright 2007 by AAAE. All rights reserved.

Statements of fact and opinion are theresponsibility of the authors and do not

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M A G A Z I N E

Airport Magazine | June/July 2007 7


up front ufSkybus CEO SpeaksAirports must find ways to reducecosts if they want to attract new low-fare air service and boost passengergrowth. That was the message fromSkybus CEO Bill Diffenderffer in akeynote speech during the 79thAnnual AAAE Conference andExposition in Washington, D.C., inearly June.

He said lower costs allow airlinesto lower their fares, and when faresgo down, passenger traffic increasesdisproportionately. “When an airlinecan get its average one-way faresbelow $100, to $60 or $70 fares,demand starts going off the chart.”

He said the industry needs airportsthat will work with an airline likeSkybus and deliver a facility where

planes can get “down and in and out”in 25 minutes. He added that longtaxi times are a definite deterrent.Also needed are airports that aren’tcaught up in capacity issues whereairlines are forced to “fly around incircles instead of a straight line.”

Addressing Skybus’ businessmodel, Diffenderffer said that whenhe took the helm of the fledgling car-rier in June 2001, he was given sixmonths to raise $80 million. He saidthey succeeded on the basis of “somedramatic promises.”

Diffenderffer explained, “We prom-ised that we’d be able to have a coststructure that was, at the time, 40 per-cent below Southwest’s numbers.That was the big promise. We prom-ised that we could go from zero rev-

enue to $1 billion in revenue insideof five years. Not very many compa-nies do that. We promised we wouldbe able to do a $1 billion IPO withinthree years. And we promised thatwe’d be able to deliver superior cus-tomer service with all of that. Thebasic model was Ryanair meetsSouthwest meets technology.”

He explained that Skybus’ idea ofcustomer service hinges on givingcustomers the things they want.

“Price and schedule are hugelyimportant, but customers care aboutthree other things as well. They careabout on-time performance. Theycare about their bag arriving withthem when they arrive. And theycare, for reasons not entirely clear,about a smile. Skybus is going to try

Mike Gobb, A.A.E., executive director for Lexington (Ky.) Blue Grass Airport, along with wife Kristina and 9-year-old daugh-ter Kirsten, welcome Queen Elizabeth II and husband Prince Philip to Lexington during their recent trip to the U.S.

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won’t be able to serve some marketsdue to costs or distance from the enddestination. For example, he saidthey could not serve New York Citythrough LaGuardia, Kennedy orNewark due to costs and the inabilityto turn aircraft in 25 minutes. He saidSkybus does like StewartInternational Airport in Newburgh,but said the facility, at about twohours from the city, is probably toofar away to be practical.

Asked how Skybus would deal withinconveniences stemming from a“thin” schedule, such as the inabilityto arrive and depart a city on the sameday, Diffenderffer said these would beaddressed by adding planes.However, he noted the carrier wouldwork on schedule diversity first, andschedule density next. He explainedthat the passengers Skybus is wooingaren’t as “schedule-sensitive.”

In response to a question about theeffect the new service is having onvisitor levels in Columbus,Diffenderffer said they have beenastounded by the statistics. Theyanticipated that 90 percent of trafficwould originate in Columbus; howev-er, figures show 75 percent of the car-rier’s passengers actually originateelsewhere, with Columbus as theirfinal destination.

Diffenderffer also told delegatesthat Skybus might consider addinginternational service in the future,though that would not include trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific flights. Thecarrier would be more interested indestinations in the Caribbean andother relatively close vacation desti-nations.

Diffenderffer concluded by predict-ing a very different airline environ-ment 10 years down the road, “ifSkybus is successful.”

Virgin AmericaCleared To Fly DOT on May 18 granted VirginAmerica Airlines rights to begin oper-ating as a U.S. carrier, after the com-pany modified its ownership and

and do those things better than any-one in the United States.”

He said the carrier would deliverprice at “unbelievable levels,” withevery flight having 10 seats availablefor $10 one way and other one-wayfares below $100, and would deliveron schedule with nonstop servicebetween cities that for the most partdon’t have it.

“And we’re trying and do it on timebecause it’s a very simple operation,”Diffenderffer said. “We use airportslike Port Columbus, like Bellingham[Wash.], where it’s easy to get in andout, where you can do 25 minuteturns, where you have utilizationcapability of up to 15 hours a day foryour airplanes. Airplanes should beflying you more than they’re drivingyou, or more than they’re being usedas something to stand at a jetway. Ifthe airplane’s not up in the air flyingin a straight line, it’s not making youany money. It’s costing you vastamounts of money.”

He also praised Elaine Roberts,A.A.E., CEO of the ColumbusRegional Airport Authority, for herhelp in getting Skybus off the ground.

“We had the great good luck of hav-ing an Elaine Roberts, somebody whotruly understood that there was aneed—an opportunity to do some-thing different,” Diffenderffer said.“She saw a business model, rough asit was, and said ‘I am going to helpback this.’ She brought it to themayor, the mayor brought to the busi-ness communities. This was the earlyfoundation of Skybus, and it was notdone, really, by the airline.

“It was done by the leader of an air-port, who saw the fact that they hadcapacity to do much more,” he con-tinued. “She saw that the fares wereincredibly high. She saw that most ofthe planes going in and out were RJsand most of her flights were actuallyconnections to somewhere. Not near-ly enough nonstops. This is what shesaw. This is what she did: she helpeddrive this forward. And,” he told del-egates, “what’s so important aboutthis is you all have this within you.”

Diffenderffer noted that Skybus

management structure to meet U.S.citizenship tests as outlined underfederal law.

Virgin America substantially revisedits application after DOT last yearissued an initial tentative decision thatfound that the company failed the citi-zenship test on a number of grounds.The company agreed to remove the

Virgin Group’s veto power over cer-tain contracts and expenditures,amend the company’s loan agree-ments with the Virgin Group, limitthe tenure of its current chief execu-tive officer, restructure its board ofdirectors to reduce the number of for-eign representatives, and revise itstrademark license to ensure the U.S.carrier can operate independently ofU.K.-based Virgin Atlantic. Further,Virgin America agreed to provideadvance notice to DOT if the compa-ny should receive additional financ-ing from non-U.S. investors.

Fred Reid, the carrier’s currentCEO, will be required to relinquishhis post within six months underterms of DOT’s decision.Under the Federal Aviation Act, to belicensed as a U.S. airline a companymust show that it is actually controlledby U.S. citizens, that the president andtwo-thirds of the board of directors areU.S. citizens, and that at least 75 per-cent of the voting interest is owned andcontrolled by U.S. citizens.

“It’s tough to think of a company thathas done as much to meet our stan-dards for becoming a commercial air-line,” said DOT Secretary Mary Peters.“Anyone who has doubts about thefuture of commercial aviation in thiscountry should take a close look at onecompany’s efforts to compete.”

Virgin America greeted the successof its long-fought struggle to gain U.S.rights with the announcement: “Popthe bubbly. We’ve been approved.”

The company is planning a mid-summer launch, with the first flightsfrom its home base in San Franciscoto New York Kennedy International.The airline also plans to serve LosAngeles International, WashingtonDulles International, San DiegoInternational and McCarran Las

news briefs

Gina Marie Lindsey was named exec-utive director of Los Angeles WorldAirports. … Danny Murphy wasnamed aviation director for the city ofPhoenix, overseeing Phoenix SkyHarbor International and general avi-ation airports Phoenix Deer Valleyand Phoenix Goodyear. Murphy hadserved as acting aviation directorsince June 2006. … Sean Hunter wasnamed director of aviation for LouisArmstrong New OrleansInternational Airport. Hunter hadbeen serving interim director sinceMay 2006. … Richard Hrabko, A.A.E.,was appointed director of Lambert-St.Louis International. … KevinDillon, A.A.E., former director ofManchester-Boston Regional Airport,was named deputy executive directorof Orlando International. … RobertGluck has been appointed airportmanager at LA/Palmdale RegionalAirport. …The Salina (Kan.) AirportAuthority named David “Gunner”Wiles as manager of operations. …Ellen Lindblad joined the Lee CountyPort Authority as senior manager ofplanning and environmental compli-ance. … Max Fajardo is the newdeputy director of operations andmaintenance for Miami-DadeAviation Department. … AECOMTechnology Corp. announced thatNorman Y. Mineta, former DOT secre-tary, has joined its board of directorsas an independent director. AECOMTechnology Corp. is the parent com-pany of DMJM Aviation and DMJMHarris, among others. … KevinDolliole, A.A.E., currently senior vicepresident of the Airport ServicesGroup for San Antonio-based UCGAssociates, was elected to W.D.Schock Company’s Board ofDirectors. … SSP announced theappointment of Les Cappetta as CEOof its U.S. division Creative HostServices.

Tech Briefs are on page 54.


Vegas International within its firstyear of operations.

The airline announced it willserve as many as 10 cities within ayear of operation and up to 30 citieswithin five years of service.Additional cities under VirginAmerica’s consideration include:Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston,Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati,Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit,Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers,Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis,Jacksonville, Kansas City, Miami,Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville,Newark, New Orleans, Orlando,Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh,Providence, Portland, Ore., Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City,San Antonio, San Jose, Calif.,Sarasota, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampaand West Palm Beach.

Detroit Topping Off TerminalDetroit Metro recently celebrated amilestone in its North TerminalRedevelopment Project with the top-

ping off of the new, 26-gate terminalthat will open in 2008 and replace theL.C. Smith and Berry Terminals,which will be decommissioned.

The tradition of topping-off cere-monies dates back to a centuries-oldtradition and signifies the completionof the terminal’s framework. Over thenext several months, the project teamwill focus on completing the exteriorwalls of the facility and then beginbuilding out the terminal’s interior.

When it opens, the $426 millionterminal will house Air Canada,American, AirTran, British Airways,Frontier, Lufthansa, Royal Jordanian,Southwest, Spirit, United, USAirways, and USA 3000, as well asnon-scheduled airlines. Northwestand its SkyTeam partners, NorthwestAirlink, Air France, Continental andDelta will remain in the McNamaraTerminal.

The new North Terminal, togetherwith the McNamara Terminal,which opened in 2002, will provideMetro with nearly 150 gates and twomodern Federal Inspection Services facilities for internationaltravelers.

Detroit's new $426 million, 26-gate terminal is

scheduled to open in 2008 and replace the

L.C. Smith and Berry terminals.

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“The North Terminal will primarilyserve local travelers—those begin-ning or ending their trip at Detroit—who will now enjoy the same world-class facilities that our connectingpassengers already do at theMcNamara Terminal,” stated airportauthority CEO Lester Robinson.

The progress of the North Terminal’sconstruction can be tracked atwww.metroairport.com/project/.

New Blue GrassConcourseLexington, Kentucky’s Blue GrassAirport has opened the newConcourse B addition. The $16.9 mil-lion project includes six passengerboarding gates, additional restroomfacilities, and space for a new retail

outlet that will open in the fall 2007.“Blue Grass Airport previously had

nine boarding gates and 14 aircrafttrying to use those gates each morn-ing. This concourse addition willallow airlines to operate more effi-ciently today and allow us to accom-modate new growth in the future,”said Michael Gobb, A.A.E., the air-port’s executive director. “The newgates and loading bridges will addmuch needed seating and services forour passengers—especially duringpeak travel hours.”

The airport next will begin renovat-ing the existing portion of ConcourseB and the main corridor that connectsits two upstairs concourses. The inte-rior furnishings and decor will beupgraded to match the appearance ofthe new addition and the newly reno-vated Concourse C.

RJs At DEN United Express carriers in late Aprilbegan using Denver InternationalAirport’s new regional jet facility atthe east end of Concourse B.

United leased the 16-gate facility,which has 13 loading bridgesdesigned to accommodate 50- and 70-seat regional jet aircraft, includeshold-room seating for passengers,restrooms and several concessionsthat are new to the airport. The newconcessions are ConnectionsNewsstand, Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli,New Belgium Brewing Co. andStarbucks.

United Express flights from DenverInternational serve eight Coloradocities, including Steamboat Springs,Durango, Grand Junction andMontrose.

Denver International built the RJfacility as part of an agreement underwhich United will consolidate all ofits operations on Concourse B. FiveConcourse A gates previously usedby United’s Ted subsidiary are nowavailable for expansion of ConcourseA airlines.

KCI Opens RentalCar FaciltyKansas City International Airport inearly May celebrated the opening ofits new $90 million rental car facility.

The 135,000-square-foot, two-levelbuilding is at the center of a 72-acresite that formerly was a satellite park-ing lot. Ten rental car agencies areconsolidated into the new building:Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget,Dollar, Fox, Enterprise, Hertz,National and Thrifty.

The facility has an overall capacityfor 8,000 cars. Each car rental compa-ny has its own dedicated section inthe parking lot, as well as its own on-site service center for vehicle fueling,washing and maintenance andrepairs.

A common shuttle service trans-ports passengers from all three termi-nals to the rental car facility, mini-mizing congestion through the termi-

Kansas City International's new $90 million, 135,000-square-foot rental car facility consol-

idated 10 agencies into one building. Features include vehicle washing and fueling facili-

ties, and space for 8,000 cars.

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nal drives and reducing the environ-mental impact of separate bus linesfor each rental car company.At the new facility, plasma screenmonitors in the upper level atriumand on the lower by the plaza providetravelers with up-to-the-minute flightinformation.

KCI in late 2004 completed thetotal renovation of its three terminals,and now offers 50 percent morerestaurant and retail space, restroomfacilities and concessions inside thegates and free wireless Internet.

Boston’s HybridsThe Massachusetts Port Authority(Massport) and the city of Bostonjointly announced the launch of a two-pronged incentive program that pro-motes the use of clean-fuel vehicles.

Massport officials unveiled a planto encourage Boston LoganInternational passengers and Bostontaxis to drive to the airport in hybrid,

alternative-fuel and alternative-pow-ered vehicles. Boston Mayor ThomasMenino announced a new $25,000grant to encourage the purchase ofCleanAir cabs.

For those who choose to drive tothe airport, Massport is offering apreferred parking program to cus-tomers driving hybrid and alterna-tive-fuel vehicles at the airport’sCentral garage, Terminal B garage,Terminal E surface lot and economyparking. In total, more than 100parking spaces at Logan will be ded-icated to clean-fuel vehicles.Signage and green painted parkingstalls will mark the spaces.Eligibility for the parking program isdetermined by the federal CleanFleet Guide that currently lists vehi-cles using CNG, hybrid electric,hydrogen fuel cell, and ethanol 85power sources.

In addition, Logan International isoffering head-of-line privileges at theairport’s taxi pool for Boston cabs that

qualify as a clean-fuel vehicle. “We take our commitment to oper-

ate our facilities in an environmental-ly sound manner very seriously,” saidMassport CEO and Executive DirectorThomas Kinton Jr. “I’m pleased tojoin Mayor Menino in the CleanAirCabs program and happy to extendhis plan one step further to promoteclean fuel vehicles with our airportcustomers. Working with the mayor,we now have the first comprehensiveincentive program in Massachusettspromoting hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles. “

Vision 100 PFCChanges OfficialFAA on May 23 issued a final rulemaking official changes incorporatedin the “Vision 100 – Century ofAviation Reauthorization Act,”including several that affect the pas-senger facility charge program. The


Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has placed into service a second group of five Oshkosh Striker aircraft res-cue and firefighting vehicles. The airport now operates a total of 10 Striker vehicles. All are 6x6 all-wheel drive, and areequipped with a 3,000-gallon water tank, roof turret, high volume-low attack bumper turret, 500-pound dry chemical firesuppression system and rear vision cameras, among other features. Two of the units are equipped with Snozzle 50-foothigh-reach extendable turrets.

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carrier compensation level for PFCcollection; and, modifying the con-tent and due date for some publicagency reports and notices.

Parking InnovationsNew parking innovations are on tap orin place at two Midwestern airports.

Detroit Metropolitan WayneCounty Airport said it will installnew state-of-the-art equipment andtechnology at its on-airport parkingfacilities. The new technology, called1-2-3 Park – Credit Card In/CreditCard Out, will allow on-airport park-ers to use their credit or debit card toenter and exit the airport’s onsiteparking facilities without the need topull a ticket.

Using the new system, customersenter by inserting a credit/debit cardinto the automated 1-2-3 Park entrydevice. When the customer returns,he or she inserts the samecredit/debit card into a 1-2-3 Parkexit device, which then calculates thecorrect charges, bills the customer’scard and prints a receipt.

Metro Airport began phasing inthe new 1-2-3 Park system thisspring in the Green and Yellow lots.The project will be completed bythe end of the summer, when theMcNamara Terminal garage incorpo-rates the new technology.

Separately, patrons of Minneapolis-St. Paul International can obtain real-time parking availability informationprior to arriving at the airport, thanksto a new system called SurePark.

To obtain parking information atboth the Lindbergh and Humphreyterminals general and short-termparking lots, customers can log on towww.mspairport.com/msp/park-ing/realtime.aspx to view parkingavailability percentages; call 1-877-FLY-PARK for an audible message,or call 1-877-FLY-PARK from a text-enabled communications deviceand press five to request a text mes-sage be sent within a user-specifiednumber of minutes.

Parking rates and facility informa-tion also are available online and

IET Granted Canadian Patent

AAAE’s Interactive Employee Training (IET) system has received a patent from the

Canadian government, representing the second time the system has been recognized

for its unique combination of computer and interactive video technology.

The IET system won a U.S. patent in 2003, protecting the technology the associa-

tion developed and incorporated into the system.

The IET system is used for the training of airport employees, including airlines,

tenants and contractors.

“IETs have proven to be a highly successful business designed around a need

our members pointed out back when computers and video were just beginning to

merge,” commented AAAE President Charles Barclay. “Our talented staff of ‘inven-

tors’ took that need and developed a unique solution that has now received its sec-

ond patent and become one of the most widely used training platforms in aviation,

considering that over 700,000 individuals have been trained, tested and results

recorded on IETs. The IET patents help ensure that this valuable business asset of

AAAE will continue to benefit the members of the association for years to come.”

The IET system is eligible for both AIP and PFC funding. The first IET system was

delivered to Reagan Washington National Airport in December 2000, and since then

59 IET systems have been ordered and more than 400 training more workstations

deployed. A

final rule adds more eligible uses ofrevenue, protects PFC revenue in aircarrier bankruptcy proceedings, andclarifies use of PFC revenue for debtservicing.

Vision 100 mandated the FAA tomake several changes to the PFC pro-gram. Among them:

• Making low-emission airport vehi-cles and ground support equipmenteligible for PFC funding.

• Using PFCs to pay debt service onprojects that are “not an eligible air-port-related project” when there is a

financial need at the airport.

• Clarifying the PFC status of militarycharters.

• Structuring PFC account require-ments for air carriers in bankruptcy.

• Making eligible the use of PFC rev-enue as the local share for projectsunder the air traffic modernizationcost-sharing program.

In addition, the final rule incorpo-rates changes to streamline the PFCprogram, including the use of elec-tronic filing of notices and reports; aperiodic review and change of the

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�The Global Defense and Security Experts

up front


company Dar Al-Handasah. The ben-efit of using PTFE allows the terminalto be flooded with sunlight duringthe daytime, while illuminating theairport as a landmark in the desertlandscape during the night hours, thedesign company said.

Airlines Urge CostConsciousnessRising airport costs continue to be aconcern for airlines, and increasedcommunications between carrierexecutives and airport officials is partof the solution, several airline repre-sentatives said during a panel at the

The new two-level, 43,000-square-meter Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport terminal features 40 check-in counters and one domestic

and six international gates. The building’s architectural design marries two circular-shaped halls to a central hub that serves as the pas-

senger transit area.

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audibly through the FLY-PARKnumber.

New Terminal OnSinai PeninsulaSharm El-Sheikh InternationalAirport, which serves Egypt’s popularsouthern Sinai Peninsula resort area,has opened a new $70 million termi-nal to accommodate an increasingnumber of international charterflights. With more than 80 percent ofthe airport’s traffic consisting of for-eign charters, Sharm El-Sheikh some-times has more planes landing dailythan Cairo Airport.

The new two-level, 43,000-square-meter terminal features 40 check-incounters and one domestic and sixinternational gates. The building’sarchitectural design marries two cir-cular-shaped halls to a central hubthat serves as the passenger transitarea. Within the hub are located pass-port control, a duty-free shop, VIPareas and cafes/restaurants.

The roofs of the two adjoining hallsare covered in stretched PTFE, orTeflon-like, fabric to resemble the bil-lowing tents of the indigenousBedouin culture. Use of the PTFE fab-ric as a roofing material marks a firstin the Middle East on this scale,according to the terminal’s design

AAAE 79th Annual Conference andExposition.

“The most important thing is col-laboration,” American Airlines VicePresident, Corporate Real EstateLaura Einspanier told airport execu-tives. “We have got to work togetherto figure this out.”

One example she cited was recentcollaboration between NormanMineta San Jose International offi-cials and airline executives thathelped cut a proposed capital expen-diture project at the airport from $4.5billion to $1.5 billion.

“Airport costs are a huge issue atAmerican Airlines,” she added, notingthey are “much higher” than the oft-quoted 4 percent industry standard.

Southwest Airlines has concernsabout rising costs. Vice President ofProperties Bob Montgomery said thatan analysis of planned capital expen-ditures at Southwest’s airports showsa big increase in the next decade.Even factoring in grant money and

funds like passenger facility charges,the carrier’s rates and charges willdouble in the next 10 years if allannounced programs—such as thoselisted in FAA’s National Plan ofIntegrated Airport Systems—are com-pleted. Airlines and airports mustwork together—like in the San Joseexample—to make sure what’s gettingdone is what’s necessary.

“There are a good many consult-ants going around making a bucktelling you how to destroy relation-ships with us,” Montgomery told theairport executives. “Our concernright now is, how do we overcomethese airport cost headwinds? I’m notarguing that things don’t need to beconstructed. I am arguing that we’redoing it the wrong way.”

UPS Airport Properties ManagerJoe Richardson urged airports toreach out to express carriers anddevelop an understanding of howthese “not normal” operators work. “Iwish that airports would take a little

more time and put more attention oncargo express guys,” he said. “Youknow what passenger folks do. Spenda bit of time looking at our businessmodels.” He said that uninitiated air-ports are “shocked” when UPSexplains how valuable three minutescan be to a night’s operation.

Meanwhile, Montgomery andEinspanier expressed doubt that air-port privatization made sense forthe industry. “At the end of the day,it increases airline costs,”Montgomery said. “I’m not sure any-one can point to a single privatiza-tion that has worked.”

Montgomery said that Southwest islooking closely at Chicago’s proposalto privatize Midway Airport as part ofan FAA pilot program. He indicatedthat while the jury remains out, theverdict appears clear. “The questionhas got to be, is there a way to takewhat is a fairly efficiently run airportand privatize it, keep it efficient andlower the costs, and bring value to the

up front


table?” he said. “We haven’t seen evi-dence yet that it will.”

TSA CheckpointFocus ShiftsTSA’s traditional focus on the scienceside of checkpoint technology is yield-ing to a bottom-up approach that looksto fit the best machines and proce-dures for today’s threats into the cur-rent airport environment. That’s themessage from Adam Tsao, the agency’sdeputy assistant administrator, opera-tional process and technology.

Today’s standard checkpoint hasevolved little from the checkpoint’sinception in response to aircrafthijacking threats some 40 years ago,he told attendees at the 79th AnnualAAAE Conference and Exposition.Changes have come via adding layersto the existing security procedures,largely in the same footprint, ratherthan through complete overhauls.

When new machines have beendeployed, TSA’s focus has been onhow they performed in the lab, not inthe airport environment. Handlingprojected passenger growth andaddressing today’s threats—whichhave changed significantly from thehijacking and bombing threats thatgave birth to aviation security—willrequire a new approach.

“Integration has always been anafterthought for us,” Tsao said.“We’ve been focused on the science.Now, we’re starting with the integra-tion first and working backwards,[asking] how do we fit our design intothe industry around us?”

Flexible systems are a key to bothfitting in and adapting to industrychanges. One example Tsao offered isthe FIDO handheld liquid explosivesdetector, which is being tested at sev-eral airports, including Miami,Newark Liberty, Detroit Metro, LosAngeles, Las Vegas McCarran andBoston Logan.

The inexpensive, lightweight units,which went from concept to field-testing in three months, are showingfalse-alarm and nuisance-alarm rates

in the “low single digits,” Tsao said. The one drawback so far is sensor

life, but TSA expects to have thatissue solved and some 200 of theunits deployed by the end of the year.

One piece of traditional technolo-gy that will be found at checkpointsis an explosives detection system(EDS) machine. TSA’s projectCambria, launched in 2005, is devel-oping existing EDS machines for thecheckpoint environment. RevealDirector of U.S. Sales Steve Pelhamsaid that his company’s Cambriasystem, the CT-80FX, has a through-put of 400 bags per hour. Pilots withthe machine are slated to start laterthis year.

A key concern with putting EDS atcheckpoints is the impact on space.Patricia Krall, L-3’s vice president ofbusiness development, noted thatthe company’s Project Cambria unitfits in the same footprint as today’scarry-on bag screening machines.Pelham said Reveal’s machine isabout six inches wider than currentmachines. The machines are alsoheavier than current X-ray

machines, which Pelham acknowl-edged “could be an issue.”

Meanwhile, the Reveal CT-80checked-baggage scanner is on trackto see its throughput boosted from thecurrently certified rate of 127 bagsper hour to 200 by the fall, Pelhamsaid. Reveal has EDS machines inabout 40 airports in various configu-rations, including stand-alone, inlineand at checkpoints, he noted.

TSA NamesScreeningContractorTSA announced that TrinityTechnology Group of Fairfax, Va., isthe private screening contractor forCharles M. Schulz-Sonoma County(Calif.) Airport under the federalScreening Partnership Program (SPP).

The competitively awarded con-tract is for security screening servicesfor both passenger checkpoint andchecked baggage operations. Thetotal contract award value, includingoptions, is approximately $5.2 mil-

Catch up on the highlights fromthis year’s annual conference bychecking out the Daily Dispatch,

the e-newsletter produced byAirport Magazine and Airport

Report Express. Connect to fivedays’ worth of coverage at

www.aaae.org/_dailydispatch.

WANT MORE NEWS FROM AAAE ‘07?

up front

lion. The total period of performanceis four years and three months, whichbegan on June 22, 2007, and will endon Sept. 30, 2011, if all options areexercised.

Under SPP, the federal securitydirector at Oakland International willremain responsible for overseeing

TSA security standards and contrac-tor performance at Schulz-Sonoma.

This is the second contract award-ed at an SPP airport using a stream-lined acquisition process implement-ed by TSA in 2006, which allows anyinterested company to respond to arequest for proposal. Previously, con-

tractors had to apply and be acceptedas a ìQualified Vendorî in order tocompete for a SPP contract, theagency said.

SPP is designed to meet therequirement for the opt-out programestablished in the Aviation andTransportation Security Act of 2001.To date, all of the original pilot pro-gram airports—San FranciscoInternational; Kansas City (Mo.)International; Greater Rochester(N.Y.) International; Jackson Hole,Wyo., and Tupelo (Miss.) Regional—are participating in SPP. In addition,Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls, S.D.,Key West International and theFlorida Keys Marathon Airport havetransitioned to SPP. TSA also signeda three-party contract with U.S.Helicopter Corp. and McNeil SecurityInc., under SPP that establishedscreening operations to support air-port shuttle services at New York’sEast 34th Street Heliport. A

Don't miss the 2007 International

Airport Security TechnologyConference and Trade Show,

August 26-28, 2007,in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Organized and hosted by AAAE, IAAE, St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport, U.S.Commercial Office, and Aeroflot Russian Airlines.

www.aaae.org/products/_610_2007_International_Security_Technology/


Available Seats In Top 25 U.S. Domestic MarketsJuly 2003 vs. July 2007

market scan msNon-stop, operating, passenger flights only

07 Rank Airport Markets July 2003 July 2007 Change

1 Honolulu International Chicago O’Hare 307,404 321,068 4.4%

2 Las Vegas McCarran Los Angeles International 251,392 294,441 17.1%

3 Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Orlando International 226,782 283,833 25.2%

4 Chicago O’Hare New York LaGuardia 251,240 271,876 8.2%

5 Las Vegas McCarran Phoenix Sky Harbor 245,010 267,618 9.2%

6 Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson New York LaGuardia 233,011 255,495 9.6%

7 Honolulu International Kauai Island Lihue Municipal 233,574 254,913 9.1%

8 Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Dallas/Fort Worth 232,549 246,722 6.1%

9 Honolulu International Kona 187,082 241,812 29.3%

10 Honolulu International Los Angeles International 237,332 239,307 0.8%

11 Washington Reagan National New York LaGuardia 234,091 236,865 1.2%

12 Los Angeles International San Francisco International 186,913 236,823 26.7%

13 Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson New York LaGuardia 235,412 233,947 -0.6%

14 New York JFK Los Angeles International 201,884 229,960 13.9%

15 Los Angeles International Chicago O’Hare 285,263 220,861 -22.6%

16 Dallas Love Field Houston Hobby 212,218 219,162 3.3%

17 Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood 198,650 217,042 9.3%

18 Chicago O’Hare Minneapolis International 230,660 214,312 -7.1%

19 Los Angeles International Phoenix Sky Harbor 220,475 210,398 -4.6%

20 Anchorage International Seattle/Tacoma International 208,564 209,750 0.6%

21 Denver International Dallas/Fort Worth 189,988 202,891 6.8%

22 Dallas/Fort Worth Chicago O’Hare 209,880 202,634 -3.5%

23 Denver International Phoenix Sky Harbor 143,258 200,207 39.8%

24 Denver International Los Angeles International 179,359 199,692 11.3%

25 Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Los Angeles International 194,539 197,023 1.3%

source: BACK AVIATION SOLUTIONS OAG SCHEDULES DATABASE. Data as of June 25.

Data provided by OAG WorldwideExperts in global travel content

www.oagdata.com


corporate outlook coFAA reauthorization is a critical issue for the

aviation community this year. It is particular-ly complicated because the Airport and

Airways Trust Fund also must be renewed.Remember the last time we faced the end of thetrust fund taxes? It took 18 months to resolve,Congress had to pass three continuing resolu-tions, and AIP funding lapsed for six months. Wecan’t let that happen again.

FAA’s proposal to change its system for obtainingrevenue has generated a lot of noise. Republicanslike to raise user fees. Democrats like to raise taxes.Airlines want a systemthey believe more fairlyspreads costs to allusers, which will causegeneral aviation usersto pay more. And gener-al aviation doesn’tbelieve a new user feesystem is cost benefi-cial, particularly sinceGA costs will rise as aresult. It’s a majordebate that well could delay the passage of amulti-year FAA reauthorization and an AIP trustfund bill.

As the revenue system debate fades, other issueswill rise to the top, and there are many. The mostbasic needs of airports must be heard, such as thepassage of legislation in time to allow continuousoperation of FAA and AIP, and a final version ofthe legislation that increases funding for AIP andincludes the ability to increase PFC funding.

These central needs are being heard, but are hav-ing difficulty rising to the top of the legislativeagenda. We must get our needs addressed. We needa united position and a loud voice speaking in uni-son. We need each other.

AAAE and ACI-NA have discontinued their leg-islative alliance. Each organization has its ownconstituent perspectives and association needs.

That returns us to the days when airports had twomajor organizations representing them inWashington. Two voices can be very strong. Butthey are stronger if they are saying the same thing.Both associations generally are making the samepoints. We need them to stay coordinated andspeak in unison on the major issues.

I am the current chair of the AirportConsultants Council (ACC). ACC represents 240 aviation consultants and vendors, many ofwhom are large companies with influence inWashington, D.C. ACC also has won the coopera-

tion of other large pro-fessional service asso-ciations such as theAmerican Society ofCivil Engineers,American Institute ofArchitects and theAmerican Council ofE n g i n e e r i n gCompanies. Theseassociations number inthe tens or hundreds of

thousands of members. We are working together toget our issues heard.

ACC is working in support of the AIP and PFClevels called for by AAAE and ACI-NA. We allneed a common position. Additionally, each ofthe associations has issues that are very impor-tant to it individually, while not particularlyimportant to the others. We need to work togeth-er to avoid inadvertently opposing something thatis critical to one of our cooperating associations.We must have a coordinated effort.

This time, we need an extra strong, unified voicewith an easily understood clear message. Let’smake this happen; our industry is counting on it.We need each other. A

Brian Reed is RS&H’s senior vice present—Aviation. Contact him at

[email protected]

We Need Each Other

We need to work together to

avoid inadvertently opposing

something that is critical to one of

our cooperating associations. We

must have a coordinated effort.

by B

rian Reed

court case


mental statutes and regulationsrequired FAA to conduct environ-mental studies before altering exist-ing runway use patterns under theNoise Compatibility Plan, and thatFAA failed to do so. FAA counteredthat the letter merely explains theexisting procedures and does notchange the use of the runways. Assuch, the letter was not an “order”—an agency action that the court couldreview. FAA also claimed that thepublishing in late 2006 of noise datarelating to the expanded runway usewas sufficient evidence to show thatthe use of the south and crosswindrunways for jet traffic would not havea significant environmental impact.

The opinion released by the courtstated that the letter was in fact FAAaction and not just an explanation ofexisting procedures. Accordingly,FAA took this action without follow-ing the required environmentalreview process. Further, the court

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of ColumbiaCircuit on May 11, 2007 issued a ruling concerning anFAA attempt to alter runway use at Fort Lauderdale-

Hollywood International Airport (FLL). The ruling is but oneact in a long-running dispute between cities adjacent to FLL-notably Dania Beach and Hollywood, Broward County offi-

cials-and FAA over many issues, most notably airportexpansion, noise and air pollution. While the court’sdecision may not alter the course of expansion at

FLL, it does underscore an important precedent—namely, FAA must follow established proce-dures, set out by regulation or by law, when ittakes such an action.The roots of the conflict lie in FLL’s spectacular

growth from a regional airport to one of the Top 50busiest U.S. commercial airports in 2006. There are three runways

in use at FLL—two parallel east-west runways and a crosswind northwest-southeast runway. Under a 1995 Noise Compatibility Program approved byFAA in 1995, all turbojet arrivals and departures were assigned to the north-ernmost parallel runway. The south and crosswind runways would be usedfor general aviation and commuter flights.

Even after 1995, FLL occasionally used the south and crosswind runwaysto handle jet traffic. These instances usually involved periods of high windsor runway maintenance, or to accommodate special events such as airshows. The Broward County Director of Aviation approved these uses, butlimited the uses to specific FAA requests and stressed that any future run-way use would require further authorization.

In 2005, FAA issued a letter stating that it had the authority to use “allavailable runways” for jet traffic, stating that this right justified its use ofthe south and crosswind runways for commercial jets when high trafficand delays warranted it, without seeking permission from BrowardCounty authorities. The letter stated that this approach was permitted byBroward County ordinances, which allowed use of one of the runways for jettraffic when “operational necessity” warranted. FAA also noted that thisexpanded runway use did not change the existing “informal runway use pro-gram” and that future runway use would “operate within existing procedures.”

The cities of Dania Beach and Hollywood, along with two local residentswhose property rights would be affected by increased jet traffic on the tworunways, filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals to challenge the proposedexpansion of runway use. They argued that FAA and other federal environ-

Case ClosedIn “City of Dania Beach, Florida, et al. v. Federal

Aviation Administration,” the court holds FAA must follow its own runway use procedures.

By Broderick C. Grady

set aside the FAA letter and directedFAA to conduct the required envi-ronmental review.

While the plaintiffs hailed thecourt’s ruling as a victory, it was onlyone event in the long-running con-flict between proponents of airportexpansion, largely comprised of FAAand local business officials, and theiropponents, including local munici-

palities and residents who expect tobear the brunt of the anticipatedadverse effects of FLL’s expansion.Indeed, at the end of an often con-tentious meeting in early June, the

Broward County commissionersvoted in favor of a $695 million proj-ect to expand the south runway sothat it can accept larger commercialjet aircraft. Many local city officialsand environmental groups are con-cerned that this expansion will leadto even more noise and pollution.

As a result of the court’s ruling,FAA has several options: It can askfor a rehearing at the Circuit Courtlevel, and can even appeal to the U.S.Supreme Court. In the interim, FAAmay choose to continue with itsexpanded runway use plan.

Regarding the current prospects forrunway use at FLL, FAA may notneed to continue this fight in thecourts. Instead, it may choose to per-form the environmental review thecourt said it should have performedin 2005. If it finds that the expandeduse of the south and crosswind run-ways by commercial jets would nothave a significant environmentalimpact, it can then reissue an orderdirecting the expanded use of theother runways. Either method willtake time and likely prove costly.FAA’s ability to reissue the order,coupled with the recent vote toexpand the south runway, will likelylead to increased commercial jetactivity at FLL, despite the bestefforts of anti-expansion groups.

Nonetheless, the court’s ruling issignificant for airports and anyoneelse regulated by FAA. In its ruling,the court made it clear to FAA thatit cannot avoid following estab-lished procedures—its own or thoseset forth by statute—simply bylabeling the action as “explanatory”or a “clarification.” It is importantthat FAA, like any governmentagency, face challenges—legal orotherwise—when it attempts toavoid its regulatory obligations.After all, these obligations are asafeguard—for citizens, municipali-ties, and even airports—againstharmful or illegal governmentaction. A

Broderick Grady is a freelance writer and aviation

attorney living in Raleigh, North Carolina. He can be

reached at [email protected].


rejected FAA’s argument about the 2006noise data, stating that “[r]egardless of theultimate outcome of the environmentalreview, the FAA was still required [bystatute and regulation] to engage in thereview process” (emphasis in original).

Even if the 2006 noise data could showthat the expanded runway use wouldhave no significant environmentalimpact, it could not be used to justify

FAA action because it was not part of therequired process, which was designed toprotect citizens and municipalities frompotentially environmentally harmfulgovernmental action. The court therefore

The court’s ruling is significantfor airports and anyone elseregulated by FAA.

wildlife management



Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport is a haven for birds–especiallywater birds because the airport is bordered on three sides by Lake Erie.

And that’s a serious challenge in terms of airport safety.Not long ago, the number of feathered residents at the general avia-

tion airport had grown significant enough that some pilots were avoid-ing Burke because they considered it too risky, Airport CommissionerKhalid Bahhur said.

“When you have wildlife on the airfield that’s causing damage to a$20 [million] or $30 million aircraft, that’s bad for business and it’sdangerous,” he said.

By Nina Rao

So when Bahhur took the airport’s top job five years ago, he decided to tackle the problem in any way he could.Now the airport has a full-time wildlife biologist. Staff harass, trap and relocate birds and collect eggs from nests

along the waterfront. The airport is experimenting with grasses, such as garlic grass, that may reduce insect popu-lations, which, in turn, would reduce the number of birds that feed on those insects. And it’s using gulleffigies–essentially dead gulls on sticks–to scare the gulls away.

The multi-pronged strategy is working: in the past five years, the airport has had no significant damage due towildlife strikes.

“There’s no one solution or magic pill to eliminating or managing wildlife at an airport,” Bahhur said. “You haveto do a lot of little things and you have to do them really well.”

Nationwide, the need to manage wildlife on airport property is growing as increasing urbanization makes thegreen space surrounding airports ever more attractive to birds, deer and other wildlife. Since aircraft-wildlife strikescost the civilian sector more than $500 million a year in the U.S. and have resulted in more than 250 civilian deathsworldwide since 1960, managing that wildlife is a vital and on-going process at most airports.

It is also one that has led to some creative solutions, often targeted at the specific environment and circumstancesof each particular airport.

“What works at one airport may not work at another,” said Ed Cleary, FAA staff wildlife biologist and vice-chairof Bird Strike Committee USA. “All these airports are different; all these environments are different.”

Often even the economics are different. Cleary recently advised airports in Africa and China, where labor is cheap,

You have to have lots

of tools in your toolbox,

everything from pots

and pans to lasers.

Man vs.NatureAirports are constantly fighting a high-stakes battle against mother nature’s creatures.

wildlife management


on how to manage their wildlifeissues.

“They’re walking around with sling-shots and brass gongs. So don’t sell thelow-tech [solution] short. It works,”Cleary said. “You have to have lots oftools in your toolbox, everything frompots and pans to lasers.”

Other options for managingwildlife include pyrotechnics, robot-ic and real falcons and, in some cases,even dogs to scare birds and otheranimals away.

In 1999, Southwest FloridaInternational Airport in Fort Myersbecame the first commercial airportto use a dog to help manage its birdproblem. The airport started with aBorder Collie named Jet and, when heretired, replaced him with a femalenamed Radar.

“The thing that works about thisprogram is that the birds might getused to pyrotechnics or the big owldolls–sometimes you have the birdsroosting right on those–but they’llnever stop thinking of the dog as apredator,” said airport spokeswomanBarbara-Anne Urrutia.

Once a dog started patrolling thegrounds, the airport saw an immedi-ate decline in bird strikes and in theairfield’s resident bird population.

“Basically, we don’t have anygroups of birds living here,” Urrutiasaid. “They have moved away.”

Southwest Florida InternationalAirport turned to a dog trained

specifically to deal with birdsbecause birds pose the biggest hazardat the airport. But sometimes identi-fying the problem is not simply aquestion of identifying the wildlifethat poses a direct danger.

At Orlando International Airport,for example, large populations ofbirds–sandhill cranes, cattle egretsand ringbill gulls, among others–liveon the airport’s 13,000 acres and posea hazard to the 850 daily commercialoperations and the 34.8 million annu-al passengers.

The birds are attracted to the air-port’s many lakes and water retentionareas. Given that water is aninevitable feature of the Florida land-scape, the airport couldn’t simplydrain the area.

So instead, as part of an extensivewildlife mitigation effort, it focusedon one piece of what draws birds towater: fish.

“We know that fish will attractbirds of all species,” said Johnny

Metcalf, the airport’s staff biologist.Three years ago, the airport part-

nered with the University of Floridato start relocating fish to nearbylakes in an effort to make the airportproperty a less attractive habitat forbirds. So far, they’ve relocated about15,000 fish.

At another airport, FAA’s Clearyran into a bird problem that boileddown to an earthworm problem.Essentially, earthworms crawlingonto the tarmac after it rained wereattracting birds. Therefore, solvingthe earthworm problem proved a bigstep toward solving the bird problem.

In general, the goal is to make theairport as unfriendly an environmentfor wildlife as possible.

“Wildlife is [at airports] becausethey can find something they want.So get rid of the food, the shelter andthe water, and the animals will gosomewhere else,” Cleary said.

On the other hand, airports willnever be completely sterile land-scapes no matter how many mitiga-tion programs they have in place.

“You can’t fix the problem. Youcan’t say we’ll never have birdsbecause we have a dog or we have afalcon or we have pyrotechnics,” saidEugene LeBoeuf, chief of the U.S. AirForce Bird/Wildlife Aircraft StrikeHazard (BASH) Team. “Nature abhorsa vacuum. The best you can do isminimize the impact.”

For the Air Force, wildlife mitiga-tion is an especially important issuesince military planes often are atmore exposed to potential wildlifestrikes than commercial planes sincethey fly at lower altitudes and, duringtraining maneuvers, land and take offrepeatedly.

Since 1973, the Air Force has lost41 aircraft and had 35 fatalities due towildlife strikes, and since 1985, itstotal cost due to aircraft-wildlifestrikes has been $731 million.

The military relies on the sameessential toolbox to manage wildlifeas the commercial sector. “We useanything,” LeBoeuf said.

In the vast majority of cases, themitigation strategies focus on birds


Looking for more information inwildlife management? Considerattending these meetings:

Birdstrike USA/Canada, Sept.10-13, 2007, Kingston, Ontario,Canada. For information, see www.birdstrikecanada.com.

AAAE’s Wildlife ManagementWorkshop, October 8-10, 2007,in Minneapolis, Minn. ContactAAAE’s James Freeman at(703) 824-0504, or [email protected].

Also, check out Bird StrikeCommittee USA’s Web site atwww.birdstrike.org

MEETINGSAND MORE

They had an eight-foot fence (whichthe deer jumped). In the early 1980s,they organized a public hunt (a logis-tical nightmare that ended up nettingonly two deer). They regularly drovethe property to herd the deer out (thedeer just came back in).

“I think we tried everything,” saidJohn Schalliol, A.A.E., the airport’sexecutive director.

Then in 2005, the airport started anambitious and expensive fencingeffort designed to solve the problempermanently.

The new fence is 10 feet high withthree strands of barbed wire at thetop, giving it an effective height of 11feet. In addition to that, the airporthad the old eight-foot chain linkfence dug into the ground under thenew fence to prevent animals fromdigging under it.

The project cost the airport almost$1 million, which it could affordthanks to an FAA discretionary grant.

“It’s been extremely effective,”Schalliol said. “We are now deer-freefor the first time in 20 or 30 years,maybe in forever.”

Though the number of deer-aircraftstrikes is still relatively low, thepotential is increasing as the nation’sdeer population spikes. At the sametime, successful animal protectionprograms have also made otherwildlife more prevalent. And increas-ing air traffic is further adding to thestrike risk.

“More aircraft, more wildlife,”Cleary said. “It’s a growing problemat all airports.” A

Nina Rao is a freelance writer based in Springfield,

Missouri.

because 97 percent of reportedwildlife strikes are with birds.

The history of aircraft-wildlifestrikes even starts with birds. Thefirst recorded aircraft-wildlife strikeoccurred in 1905 when, according toOrville Wright’s diary, he hit andkilled a bird as he circled a cornfield.Experts now surmise–based on thetime of year and the location–that thebird in question was a red-wingedblackbird, Cleary said.

Decades later, the modern era ofaircraft-wildlife strikes also beganthanks to birds. In 1960, a LockheedElectra turboprop hit a flock ofEuropean starlings as it took off fromBoston’s Logan International Airport.Bird ingestions caused one of theplane’s engines to shut down and twomore to lose power. The planecrashed into Boston Harbor, killing59 passengers and three crewmem-bers. Because of this incident, FAAinitiated its wildlife mitigation pro-gram, both in terms of requiring birdingestion standards for aircraft and interms of helping airports managetheir wildlife. (Note: see story onpage 30 for more on FAA’s efforts.)

BEYOND BIRDSIndiana’s South Bend RegionalAirport in Indiana doesn’t have a birdproblem, thanks in part to a neigh-boring golf course whose ponds andmanicured lawns attract the fowl.

Instead, the airport had to contendwith a herd of about 30 deer living onits 2,200 acres.

Airport staff tried lion urine toscare the deer away (it didn’t work).

wildlife management


St r ik ing Deve lop

Increased reporting and bettertechnology are giving industry

unparalleled intelligence onbird strike trends.


Airports now have access to an improvedwildlife management tool, thanks to therecent completion of a bird DNA library that

can pinpoint the exact species of bird that causedan aircraft strike.

Armed with that specific information, airportscan develop tailored habitat management programsto alleviate the potential for dangerous, and oftendeadly, aircraft-bird collisions.

Using a five year, $500,000 grant from FAA’sWilliam J. Hughes Technical Center, theSmithsonian Institution’s Feather IdentificationLab in the Bird Division of the Museum of NaturalHistory, in collaboration with the University ofGuelph in Canada, mapped the DNA barcode for 96percent of the bird species that reside in the U.S.and Canada.

“We consider this a major breakthrough for iden-tification that doesn’t involve feathers,” comment-ed Smithsonian Institution research scientist CarlaDove. The program to develop the DNA library wasfinished in fall 2006 and Dove’s team of threeimmediately began using it for bird strike identifi-cations. Co-workers with Dove on the team areDNA lab specialist Nancy Rotzel and feather labtechnician Marcy Heacker.

mentsBy Barbara Cook

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More than 800 bird strike samples were submit-ted to the Smithsonian last fall for DNA testing and67 percent of those samples contained viable DNAthat resulted in a positive species identification,Dove explained. The remaining 33 percent of sam-ples, which didn’t contain usable DNA, wereidentified using the feather lab’s traditionalmethods such as microscopy and whole feathercomparisons with the Smithsonian’s vast stuffedbird collection.

Using microscopic methods, “We can only get theidentification to the group of birds, for exampleduck, but we cannot say if it is a mallard or a pintailduck,” Dove said. “Until now, we could not get theseminute samples to the species level and, therefore,were not as accurate with our IDs. Sometimes, wecould only say ‘songbird.’ Now we can nail it all theway to the most obscure sparrow.”

wildlife management


Many of the samples sent to Dove’s lab by air-ports and airlines consist of paper towels contain-ing a smear of bird blood or tissue. This collectionmethod can result in a degradation of the DNAbefore the specimen reaches the lab, making itunusable for identification by the new DNA library.

“Another goal of our FAA project, in addition todeveloping the DNA library, was to improve the[bird sample] collection procedure,” Dove said. Herteam is now testing chemically treated samplecards that are easier and more sterile for airport andairline operations personnel to use. “We’ll probablyrecommend using the cards,” Dove said. “We’llcome up with a bird strike shopping list andwhere you can buy the products, so each airportcan obtain the materials.” She noted that,“Probably the biggest thing keeping people fromsending in samples is that it takes time.” The newsample cards (pictured, top left), plus a reportform that can be accessed on-line, could alleviatethat problem, she said.

For Dove, the next step in the process of improv-ing the bird strike information that is available toairports and airlines would be to expand the scopeof the DNA library beyond the U.S. and Canada.The focus would be on identifying heavy birds,which are the most dangerous to aircraft, sheexplained.

FAA for years has had a voluntary system forreporting civil aircraft wildlife strikes, includingbird strikes. In 1995, the agency, through an intera-gency agreement with U.S. Department ofAgriculture (USDA), Wildlife Services, developed aNational Wildlife Strike Database to better definethe civil aircraft wildlife strike problem. About72,000 strike records involving civil aircraft arenow in the database and provide the foundation forFAA policies and guidance on wildlife manage-ment programs. Most are bird strike reports.

To expand airport and airline usage of the data-base, in 1999 FAA awarded a grant to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott,Arizona, to establish a Wildlife Hazard Mitigationwebsite. This tool, available athttp://wildlife.pr.erau.edu/public/index1.html,allows users to pull up their entire strike history.The same data is available at FAA’s own site,http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov. Other helpfulmaterial on the FAA website includes a manual forairports, Wildlife Hazard Management at Airports.The latest edition of the manual, which can bedownloaded, has English and Spanish versions.

FAA wildlife biologist Ed Cleary explained thatairports and airlines can request a password fromFAA, using instructions contained in AC 5200-32A,to access their own strike history in the WildlifeHazard Mitigation database. The information in the

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database is protected so that one airport or airlinecan’t pull up another’s strike reports. “We do thisbecause there was some reluctance at first to sub-mit this information, and it might become mis-quoted and misinterpreted,” Clearly said. Heemphasized, however, that, “Because of the waydata is collected, you cannot compare airports andairlines in any meaningful way because the infor-mation is submitted voluntarily, and every airportis different. The habitat is different for each.”

Information that is automatically displayed bythe database for Part 139 airports provides themwith the number of strikes per 100,000 aircraftmovements over the past five years. It also providesairports with a comparison of their strike rate withthe statistical mean strike rate for similar size air-ports in their region, as well as with all airports oftheir size in U.S. “They can see howthey stack up against other airports,”Cleary explained.

The database also provides userswith a risk analysis, which is a listshowing all the species of birds andother wildlife that have caused dam-age to an aircraft at their facility overthe last five years. In this way, offi-cials have a record of the speciesposing the greatest risk to aviationsafety at their airport. “Which birdscause damage to aircraft is the mostimportant thing to know,” Clearysaid. “The database can help air-ports evaluate their wildlife hazardmanagement program.”

Aircraft engine manufacturers canaccess the database for all strikereports involving their engines butnot for engines made by other com-panies. Further, the general publiccan obtain statistics on the numberof strikes by year, month, state andwildlife species, but not by a spe-cific airport, engine manufactureror airline.

Despite the valuable information that airportsand airlines can obtain from the database, only asmall percentage of wildlife strikes at airports arereported to FAA and are reflected in the database.USDA employee and database manager SandraWright recently analyzed strike information in thedatabase against internally maintained informationprovided by U.S.-based airlines and airports. Shefound that only 21 percent of known civil aviationstrikes had been reported to FAA. The numberactually could be as low as 11 percent, she stated.

Cleary pointed out that while the percentage ofreports isn’t increasing, the total number of reports

submitted by airports and airlines is steadily climb-ing. “I can’t say why the percentage [of reports]isn’t increasing,” Cleary said. “But we are raisingthe consciousness of the aviation community.Airports are coming to realize that reporting a strikeis to their benefit.”

Richard Dolbeer, USDA’s national coordinator forthe airport wildlife hazard program, described theSmithsonian, FAA and USDA as a “three-partteam” in their efforts to mitigate aircraft-wildlifeaccidents.

The team’s workload is increasing steadily, hesaid. At USDA last year, the staff provided 674 air-ports with some type of wildlife management assis-tance. In 1990, by comparison, the departmentworked at only 42 airports. Airports’ need forwildlife management assistance is increasing for a

number of reasons, Dolbeer said. These include: theU.S. is doing a better job of protecting birds by ban-ning certain pesticides; wildlife refuge areas arebigger; the Clean Water Act has benefited wildlife;wetlands are receiving greater protection, andmigratory bird treaties have been strengthened.Another factor is that aircraft are quieter and faster,making birds less able to detect them.

All of these factors have resulted in a majorincrease in many bird populations that are haz-ardous to aviation, Dolbeer said. “As a country,we should be proud that we have done such agreat job. But, as a result of all this protection,

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wildlife management


Robert Johnson, assistant operations manager atKansas City International Airport (KCI), frequentlyuses the Smithsonian’s resources for bird identifi-cation. “It’s extremely important that we knowwhat is struck instead of just guessing,” heexplained. He said that a problem with bird strikesat the approach to KCI’s runway 19L was resolvedwhen Dove’s lab identified the birds involved,which enabled the airport to find the correct nest-ing area. Airport personnel put netting over thegrates of a culvert and removed the birds’ habitat,which resulted in a decline in strikes.

At KCI, “It’s a pretty well established practice foroperations and airline people to collect (wildlife)remains,” Johnson said. He uses posters to remindairport personnel to be on the lookout for wildliferemains involved in strikes and to collect a samplefor identification.

Dolbeer pointed to a number of promising tech-nologies that could aid airports in their wildlifemanagement programs in the future. These include:

— Development of bird detecting radar. “Just likeradar can see weather patterns, certain radar candetect birds,” Dolbeer explained. The technologynow is being used at airports on an experimentalbasis.

— Making aircraft more visible to birds. Sincebirds can see light in the ultraviolet range, aircraftmight be equipped with lights that also emit ultra-violet frequencies as well as visible frequencies.This light would catch birds’ attention and helpthem recognize the approach of an aircraft. Anotherpossibility is the use of ultraviolet reflecting painton the nosecone of an aircraft. “Birds do try to getout of way of aircraft; they aren’t suicidal,” Dolbeersaid.

—Use of grasses that are unpalatable to geese andother birds that feed on grass. These entophytic fes-cue grasses have a fungus associated with them thatdoesn’t harm the grass, but gives a bad taste. USDAcurrently is testing types of fescue for use on air-ports. “Over the next few years, I think we’ll seespecific recommendations on types of grasses toplant on airports that are wildlife unfriendly,”Dolbeer said. A

Barbara Cook is Airport Magazine’s deputy editor.

Posters remind KCI employ-ees to report wildlife strikes

many of our bird species that are hazardous toaviation are increasing, and they have adapted tourban environments. They love airports becausethere is lots of grass there. And, if there is water,they like that, too.”

Dolbeer added, “Managing wildlife on an airportis like mowing your grass. You are never going tostop having to do it. Wildlife will fill in a vacuum.”

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by Melissa Babula


Texans are serious about their food. The averageHouston resident dines out 4.2 times a week,

while the national average is 3.3 times per week.And to serve their restaurant-savvy customers evenbetter, Houston’s George Bush IntercontinentalAirport brings the rustic flavors of Cajun Countryto the hustle and bustle of terminal C.

Bubba’s Bayou City Grill is part of the airport’seffort to improve dining selections in recent years.Featuring steaks, seafood, spicy Cajun shrimp,burgers, fries and barbecue, Bubba’s menu offersenough variety to satisfy any Texas-sized appetite.Meals on the go and a full bar also make it a con-venient stop for any hungry (or thirsty) traveler.

Bubba’s is all about old-fashioned southern hos-pitality, and the prices are just as welcoming—cus-tomers won’t pay more than $19.95 for any entrée.Tableside serenades performed by the wait staffcontribute to the fun and casual atmosphere of therestaurant.

Whether you’re in Houston for business or pleas-ure, Bubba’s Bayou City Grill makes traveling adelicious experience. A

Bubba’sBayou City Grill

Houston George Bush IntercontinentalAirport, Terminal C

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mmmeasure of the month

In May Skybus, the first ultra-low-costcarrier in the U.S., announced servicefrom its base of operations at PortColumbus International Airport toeight destinations nationwide.Included in this first wave of destina-tions are Portsmouth, N.H. (servinggreater Boston), Fort Lauderdale, Fla.;Greensboro, N.C.; Kansas City;Burbank (serving greater Los Angeles);Richmond, Va.; Oakland, andBellingham, Wash, (theSeattle/Vancouver area). The carrierplans to offer at least 10 $10 tickets onevery leg it operates. Providing someheft behind its business plan is some$160 million in start-up capital, pro-vided by the likes of Fidelity,Nationwide Insurance, and MorganStanley.

Somewhat conspicuous on the listof destinations are non-nub airportsin Bellingham and, especially,Portsmouth International Airport atPease (PSM). How does an airportwith barely 17,000 enplanements in2006 attract one of the best-capital-ized low-cost startups in years? Theanswer: relatively close proximity to

a major market (Boston is 55 milesaway), and the waiving of all airlinefees for two years. “We signed a two-year agreement to allow them(Skybus) to do business here, essen-tially without any fees,” PeaseDevelopment Authority ExecutiveDirector Dick Green told the SeacoastOnline. “It’s kind of a ‘loss leader.”

‘Free Lunch’ Economics

Portsmouth’s decision to allowSkybus to fly for free begs the ques-tion: how far should small and non-hub airports, struggling to attractcoveted low-fare service, be willingto go?

It is not uncommon for airports tooffer incentives, especially to low-fare airlines, in order to entice themto serve their airport over otheroptions. However, the complete lackof terminal rent or landing fee incomefor two years would have small air-port officials asking, “What’s in it forme?” Is it possible for the airport torecoup its investment through othersources of revenue? Or is it, as Greenput it, “a loss leader,” contingent

upon the airport being able to brokera better deal in a couple of years?

Although Skybus will begin with arelatively modest amount of service,its 65 planes scheduled for deliveryby late 2008 mean that many othersmall airport operators may be askingthemselves the same question in thecoming months.

So what’s a small airport to do?Here we examine three hypotheticalscenarios of what might transpire ifyou, a small airport operator, suc-ceed in luring a low-fare carrier toyour airport.

The Good

Let’s assume that a start-up low fareairline such as Skybus begins servicewith two flights per day to your air-port. The carrier achieves strong loadfactors of about 75 percent on theroute. Your airport agrees to waive alllanding fees, terminal rents, andapron charges for two years, forgoingrevenue of approximately $5.60 perenplaned passenger, the average costairlines paid non-hub airports in2005 (See figure 1). On the plus side,

Fly Free? The onset of ultra-low cost service brings new questions for small airports.

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Average Airline Cost per EnplanedPassenger, Non-hub Airports, 2005

Average Non-Aeronautical Revenue PerEnplanement- Non-hub Airports, 2005

The costs and Benefits of New Service - BEST CASE


you average about $3 per enplanedpassenger in non-aeronautical rev-enues from rental cars, parking andretail, roughly half the average thatnon-hubs achieved in 2005 (See fig-ure 2). All told, the fee income youwaived is about $200,000 greater thanthe additional revenue your airportearns serving 85,000 new passengersin year one.

In year two, your carrier adds anadditional daily flight, and the air-port brings in $6 per enplaned pas-senger—the non-hub average—fromrental cars, parking and retail. Thisadditional revenue outstrips the feesyou agreed to waive by about$100,000. Your airport applies to theFAA to charge a $4.50 passengerfacility charge (PFC), and begins col-lecting it in this second year of oper-ations, accumulating approximately$500,000 for capital upgrades fromthe roughly 125,000 enplaned pas-sengers. At the end of year two, yourairport re-negotiates with Skybus,and they agree to pay half of the aver-age airline cost per enplanement fornon-hubs beginning in year three.

Your carrier continues to expandrapidly. The airline adds one addi-tional departure from your airport ineach of the next two years and twomore in year five, for a total of sevenper day. By this fifth year, the airportis bringing in $9 per enplaned pas-senger from rental cars, parking andretail. (While this is a lofty goal, it issimilar to what non-hub Roanokeachieved in 2005.)

Under these circumstances,300,000 enplaned passengers wouldgenerate a surplus of approximately$2 million over the discount afforded

to the carrier. The airport would alsobe generating approximately $1.25million annually in PFC revenue,helping to fund expansion. Yourstart-up carrier is firmly entrenchedas a mainstay amongst U.S. carriers.Your airport has been transformedfrom a struggling non-hub to theverge of achieving small-hub status.(See figure 3.)

The Not-As Good (But Not Bad)

As in the best-case scenario, yournew carrier begins service with twodaily flights. As Portsmouth did, youwaive all fees for two years. You evenagree to throw in six months of freeparking for passengers. Waving thefees costs you about $450,000 in thefirst year. In exchange your airportsees an additional 80,000 passen-gers. Generating approximately $2in retail, rental car and parking (forthe six months you do charge) perenplanement offsets roughly$160,000 of this foregone income,for a deficit of about $290,000 thatfirst year.

In year two, the airport generates $5per enplaned passenger in non-aero-nautical revenue resulting in a break-even scenario when compared to thewaived fee income. FAA approves aPFC. You are left with about $400,000in PFC revenues that can be used foreligible airport upgrades.

After two years, you sit down withyour carrier and are informed thatthey would love to continue to serveyour airport, but simply cannot affordto pay any fees without jeopardizingtheir low fares. Grudgingly, youagree, knowing that finding a replace-ment carrier would not be easy.

The airline does adds a third dailyflight in year three and a fourth inyear five. By the fifth year your air-port is generating $6 per enplane-ment in non-aeronautical revenuesfrom retail, rental cars and park-ing—roughly the non-hub average.This additional income now coversthe fees you agreed to waive, butjust barely, by about $90,000 peryear. In addition, the airport is nowseeing approximately $700,000 peryear in PFC revenue, making it easi-er to catch up on sorely neededimprovements.

Your airport is now serving 160,000new passengers, who appreciate theirlow fares, timely service and conven-ience. You are left with a viable flag-ship carrier and a success story topitch to prospective new airlines.(See figure 4.)

The Ugly

Desperate to bring in some serviceafter the departure of a bankrupt lega-cy carrier, you offer a start-up carriertwo years of operations for free, andare backed into offering free parkingfor a year. The new airline a kicks offwith two daily flights. However, pas-sengers find their no-frills approachsimply too uncomfortable, even atbargain-basement prices. Flights areoften cancelled or late. Load factorsaverage 55 percent in their first year,and your airport struggles to generate$1 per each of its 60,000 enplanedpassengers in additional revenuesince it cannot charge for parking.Foregone fee income outstrips newrevenues by $375,000.

In the second year, your carrier hasto cut back service to one flight per

Fig.4 Fig.5

continued on pg 56

The costs and Benefits of New Service - BASE CASE The costs and Benefits of New Service - DOWNSIDE CASE

Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) isresponding to a 45 percent increase in pas-senger volume over the last five years with anew concourse, now under construction.Started in late 2006, the $11.5 million,15,000-square-foot concourse will add eightgates, roughly doubling the airport’s gatearea. Construction is on track for completionbefore Labor Day, reports Brian Kidd, deputydirector of aviation-marketing and develop-ment for the airport.

Explaining the need for the addition, Kiddsaid, “At peak times during the busiest sea-son (January-April), all eight of the loadingbridge gates in the Bono Concourse, built in1999, are occupied.”

The new concourse features state-of-the-artpassenger information systems, public

asairport spotlight


Palm Springs International Airport

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Palm SpringsInternational Facts:

• 1.6 million passengers annually (94thlargest in US in 2006)• 70 percent of passengers originateelsewhere• 10,000-foot commercial runway and4952-foot general aviation runway• 13 airlines, 53 peak daily departuresand 4500 daily departure seats• 99 percent VFR conditions• One of the U.S.’s first RNP approach-es, utilized by Alaska Air Group• Fastest growing area in the U.S. since2000 (over 420,000 population)• Less than two miles from downtownPalm Springs and Palm SpringsConvention Center • U.S.’s first vehicle inspection plazafor times of heightened security

address systems, restroom facilities and “an open-air walkway that preserves theoutdoor feeling that characterizes the existing concourse,” Kidd noted. “It also cap-tures the mid-century design elements of the existing main terminal, built in 1966,which attracts students of architecture from around the world to Palm Springs tosee the greatest concentration of remaining residential examples.”

The original contract was 95 percent funded by FAA Airport ImprovementProgram (AIP) money, Kidd said, but added that the airport has absorbed someadditional costs during the buildout. The lead contractor on the project is HarborConstruction.

The concourse, which is expandable to 45,000 square feet by adding modules,will handle all aircraft with 100 seats or fewer. This currently includes UnitedExpress, Delta Connection, US Airways Express, Continental Express and HorizonAir. With opening planned by Labor Day, the carriers expect to move their opera-tions to the new terminal well ahead of the peak tourist season, which begins inNovember, Kidd said.

The work remaining on the concourse includes finishing the secure walkway tothe concourse from the main terminal and removal of two temporary gate areas thatwere built in 1991. Once completed, the post-security area will feature expansiveoutdoor space for tourists to catch those few last rays of sun before heading home,as well as several additional locations for new concessions. A

ramp security


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When two airline baggage handlers at Orlando International Airport were arrested inMarch for attempting to smuggle marijuana and handguns on a U.S.-based airlineflight, Congress quickly shifted its sights from passenger screening to securing the

airfield ramp, including legislation that, if passed, would require industry to test and eval-uate 100-percent physical screening of airport workers.

Although the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 called for the 100-per-cent screening of employees, it left the definition of “screening” up to TSA. Some haveargued that the combination of criminal history record checks, airport ID badges and com-puterized access control systems fulfill the screening requirement, while others maintainthat all airport workers must be subjected to the same physical inspection process as pas-sengers.

Currently, employees are required to undergo the passenger screening process (actualphysical inspection of themselves and their belongings) if they enter the sterile areathrough a passenger screening checkpoint. Many employees, however, routinely enter theairfield using their airport ID badges, and then enter the sterile area through ramp sideaccess doors leading into the concourses. This is not new. Airport and airline employeeshave been doing this under federally approved Airport Security Programs for dozens ofyears—a process supported by TSA Administrator Kip Hawley in his testimony toCongress in April.

“Passenger screening uses a different model than airport employee screening and itmakes common sense that we use a different approach,” noted Hawley. “Passengers cometo the airport and not much is known about them. We move them through security andhold them in a sterile area before they board the plane. It is completely different with air-port workers. We know a lot about them and they are well-known to other workers.

“When they come to work, they are gaining access to the equivalent of a small city whichalready contains more than enough raw materials to commit a terrorist act. Therefore,keeping track of people and what they’re doing is a better approach to security.”

Along these lines, TSA has been working with AAAE and other aviation associations on

Awareness and adherence to policy may help the industry avoid 100-percent

employee physical screening.

RampClampdown

By Jeff Price

ramp security


a program to increase the effective-ness of ramp security without goingto a 100-percent physical inspectionprocess. One of the six measures out-lined by the TSA includes trainingsome airport workers in behavioralrecognition techniques to be able todetect hostile intent by coworkers.This is similar to the TSA’s ScreeningPassengers by Observation Technique(SPOT) program where screenerslook for and question passengers whodisplay suspicious behavior. TSA isalso looking at increasing trainingrequirements for all airport workersin being able to spot and report sus-picious activities.

Two technology solutions are alsoincluded in TSA’s agenda. One pro-posal is to expand the use of biomet-rics in airport access control andidentification systems, and the otheris to deploy additional security cam-eras and other emerging technologies.

Another component of TSA’s pro-gram is to enhance the AviationDirect Access Screening Program(ADASP) already in place at U.S. air-

ports. Through ADASP, TSA person-nel deploy to random locationsthroughout the airport to screenemployees as they move between thesterile, secured and public areas.Workers would still be subjected torandom selection for screening underthe ADASP.

As part of TSA’s suggestions toenhance employee screening, there isa possibility that certain personnel,such as airport operations and main-tenance workers who must moveback and forth between public andsecurity areas throughout the day,could be designated as “certifiedemployees.” This voluntary programwould subject employees to a higherlevel of initial scrutiny such as anenhanced background check, but mayexempt them from the regular screen-ing process.

Despite TSA’s best efforts, Congressmay still decide to require that all air-port workers undergo the same levelof screening as passengers. Severalcommittees are working on bills thatwould direct Homeland Security to

evaluate 100-percent employeescreening at airports, likely throughpilot programs. This has sent airportsecurity coordinators scrambling fortheir calculators to figure out howmuch it would cost to implementsuch a program. At one Midwesternlarge hub airport, the cost of 100-per-cent employee screening exceeded$25 million in additional annualoperating costs. Other questionsabout this process remain, such aswho will conduct the screening, TSApersonnel or airport contractors?Commenting for this article, AAAE’sCarter Morris, senior vice president,Transportation Security Policy saidthat it’s too early to tell.

Giving TSA personnel the respon-sibility to staff employee screeningcheckpoints would likely requireadding thousands of screeners to theworkforce. There has been some con-sideration given to utilizing the exist-ing passenger screening checkpoints,but in many airports, blending thou-sands of airport workers with tens ofthousands of airport passengers

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would create considerable conges-tion—and delays—at screening lines.

Orlando International (MCO) hasimplemented 100-percent employeescreening. Through an agreementwith TSA, agency personnel screenemployees inside the terminal whilea security contractor conducts airsidescreening, including at vehicle gates.According to MCO security directorBrigitte Goersch, the airport wasdesigned with the idea that employeescreening would eventually berequired.

“Years ago we designed the airportwith employee screening in mind,mainly by limiting the employeeaccess points,” said Goersch. MCOalso funded the equipment acquisi-tion, trained the contract screenersand decided what level of screeningwould be used. Since the program isnot federally mandated, MCO hadmore latitude in designing what theprogram would look like. All airportworkers are screened every timethey pass through a checkpoint—there are no exceptions. Goerschagreed that 100-percent employeescreening would be a big challengefor some airports due to their designand the importance of maintainingemployee flow.

While Congress and TSA try to fig-ure a solution, airport operators areworking to identify what they shoulddo to improve ramp security now.Unfortunately, the Orlando arrestswere not an isolated incident. Drugsmuggling and other crimes commit-ted by airport workers, such as bag-gage and cargo theft, have been occur-ring for years. Also, attacks on an air-craft originating from the ramp on the

airport itself through the perimeter,are possibilities. Some of the mostnotable attacks in aviation historyinvolved on-airport workers, includ-ing the downing of PSA 1771 in 1987and the bombing of Pan Am 103 in1988.

So what’s an airport to do?Charlotte Peed, TSA’s acting generalmanager for Airports, encourages air-port operators to first focus on meet-

ing the regulatory requirementsregarding ramp security, mainlyensuring criminal history recordchecks are conducted on employeeswith unescorted access to the securedarea—commonly referred to as theSIDA, short for SecurityIdentification Display Area. Further,employees undergo a Security ThreatAssessment, which verifies theemployee’s identity by running his or

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her name through various intelli-gence databases, such as the no-flyand selectee lists. Airport access bythe employee is further restrictedthrough the access control system,CCTV monitoring, and challenge pro-grams.

Peed notes that airports already doa good job at training airport workersin security practices. Training thatmust be reinforced by airport securi-ty, police and operations officials ona daily basis.

“Airport operators really are thesecurity people out there. They knowtheir facilities the best,” said Peed.“We work with and encourage allemployees, if you’re out there, if yousee someone without their airportcredential displayed, or not the rightcredential, you have to challenge.Many airports have established somegood compliance programs.”

New perimeter intrusion and mon-itoring technologies definitely havetheir place and should be considered,tested, and where appropriate, imple-mented. However, airport operatorsshould compare whether technologyor human processes will be moreeffective on the airport perimeter andramp areas, and implement the rightsolutios accordingly.

A focus on the stringent adherenceand enforcement of the regulatoryrequirements will go a long way inimproving ramp security. Looselyenforced policies encourage an atti-tude of indifference to the securityrequirements and lessen the overalleffectiveness of the airport securityprogram. This level of attention to thebasics will greatly enhance the effec-tiveness of technology when it isimplemented. Management at all lev-els must support such enforcement inorder for it to be effective.

Most in the industry agree that TSAis on the right track by encouragingan increase in overall employee secu-rity awareness. Anonymous reportinghotlines for suspicious activity andbehavioral recognition training aretwo programs that further enhanceramp security. On the technologyside, there are software solutions that

Securing the GA RampThere are numerous security practices for general aviation operators, includingFBOs, corporate aircraft tenants and even private pilots. These practices are cov-ered extensively through several trade organizations such as the National BusinessAviation Association, the National Air Transport Association and the AircraftOwners and Pilots Association. But how can airport operators help secure theirgeneral aviation (GA) facilities?

Airport operators should first ensure that their GA tenants are familiar with andhave implemented the basic security practices. GA operators should maintain a logof who is allowed to access their ramp areas and should maintain positive escort orsurveillance of those individuals. Aircraft and fuel truck parking areas should bewell lighted and access to these areas strictly controlled. Tenant fuel farms shouldalso be well lighted and secured with fencing, gates and locks. FBO personnelshould be trained in security awareness practices and what to do and who to notifywhen a suspicious individual has been spotted or encountered. Airport operatorsshould implement AOPA’s Airport Watch program and host evening security aware-ness seminars where the AOPA Airport Watch video can be shown and securityissues discussed.

At GA airports, airport operators should install fencing around the airfield, and putin a vehicle access control system to maintain better control of the ramp area. Thisis beneficial from a security and a safety perspective.

Vehicle access to the ramp should be strictly controlled. Even on GA airports, FBOpersonnel should ensure that vehicles accessing the airfield go directly to and fromthe aircraft as soon as possible. Airport operations and maintenance personnelshould make sure tenants are not losing track of vehicles that are allowed to accessthe airfield. This is particularly important for GA ramps on commercial service air-ports, where a vehicle is capable of carrying a large load of explosives or an assaultteam. Airport assaults have occurred a few times in the United States, but are morecommonplace overseas.

Also, at commercial service airports, GA operators must adhere to the AirportSecurity Program, which may require that all personnel not possessing anapproved form of airport identification are escorted while on the ramp. Make surethe customers and users of the GA facility are briefed on ramp security and strictlyenforce these protocols. If an FBO or other airport tenant allows an individual orbusiness to violate Part 1542 security regulations, the airport could be faced withthousands of dollars in fines.

To assist GA operators in securing their ramp areas, the airport operator shouldconsider painting lines of demarcation around the GA ramp in order to provide avisual border for GA operators. The GA ramp should be patrolled frequently bysecurity, law enforcement and airport operations to ensure that GA operations andpersonnel are remaining within the GA area. A

– Jeff Price


will turn an average CCTV camerainto a smart device capable of detect-ing movement and distinguishingbetween normal and suspicious activ-ity, along with other perimeter intru-sion defense systems that are beingdeveloped. Airports that have largewater borders, like San FranciscoInternational and Boston Logan, maybe able to take advantage of intrusiondetection systems that are technologybased. Rather than having a securityguard stare at the waterfront for hourson end, that individual may be usedmore effectively in a response or rov-ing patrol capacity.

Airport operators should not ignorebasic facility protection strategies,such as adequate lighting for aircraftparking areas and other sensitivelocations like the fuel farm, reducingthe amount of blind spots on the air-field perimeter by expanding CCTVcoverage and frequent airfield patrolsairport operations, security and lawenforcement personnel. An increaseof just one security guard or policeofficer patrolling an airfield eachshift can greatly increase an airport’s

security posture. Perhaps the best defense is funda-

mental employee awareness. In virtu-ally every school or workplace shoot-ing, or workplace violence event, theaftermath turns up someone thatnoticed something wasn’t right.

“The best security for [the airfield]is to insure that only the right peopleget into that area and that hostileintent or suspicious behavior is iden-tified quickly,” noted TSA’s Hawleyin his testimony to Congress. In theOrlando incident, there were likelyother airport workers who eitherknew about the smuggling operationor had their suspicions. Airport opera-tors should continue to focus on meth-ods and training to detect this type ofactivity, even as lawmakers ponderwhether to mandate the spending ofmillions of dollars on employeescreening checkpoints. A

Jeff Price is the owner of Leading Edge Strategies and

a professor at the Metropolitan State College of

Denver. A former airport manager, his book Practical

Aviation Security: Protecting the Worlds Airways from

Terrorism (McGraw-Hill) comes out in January 2009.

GA Airport SecurityTraining ResourcesTSA, with input from industry stakeholdersincluding AAAE, has developed a set of GAairport security guidelines. Access it at:www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/ga/editorial_1113.shtm

ANTN Digicast, AAAE’s Web-based trainingand content tool, is developing a multi-partGA security series based on the TSA guide-lines. Look for it to debut later this year. Forinformation on ANTN Digicast, contact SeanBroderick at [email protected] or(703) 824-0504.

Congress Pushes Employee Screening EvaluationsEfforts to require the physical screening of all workers at airports prior to their entry into secure or sterile areas are gaining steam onCapitol Hill. While no proposal has been enacted into law at presstime, several key congressional committees were pursuing legislativeproposals aimed at enhancing airport worker screening.

The leading approach at this point is the establishment of six-month pilot programs at a handful of airports to test the feasibility of phys-ically screening all workers prior to their entry into sensitive areas. The AAAE Airport Legislative Alliance staff is actively engaged in thediscussion with lawmakers and has argued, among other things, that federal resources must accompany any airport worker screeningpilot program. Estimates of the program’s costs vary, but stakeholders believe setting up new, dedicated employee screening lanes willcost about $1.1 million per lane for the duration of the pilot programs. Estimates are that smaller airports could need as many as 10new lanes, while large hub airports could need 70 or more. Adding in projected employee productivity losses, the pilot’s estimatedcost ranges from around $120 million to $275 million, with the number of lanes being the most significant variable.

The ALA staff also has pushed for the evaluation of alternative approaches to 100-percent physical screening as part of any pilot pro-gram established by Congress – such as targeted inspections of employees, biometrically enabled access control, behavior recognitionprograms, increased training and employee awareness, enhanced credentialing, and utilization of canines and enhanced technologysuch as cameras. Such an approach would build upon the work already underway by the joint TSA/AAAE/ACI-NA Employee ScreeningTask Force, which was created to establish sustainable solutions to screening workers at airports. While the details of these various leg-islative initiatives in play at this point have yet to be hammered out, most observers believe that Congress will approve some sort ofplan in the months ahead to test the feasibility of requiring 100-percent physical screening of airport workers. A

fpfirst person


As passenger traffic rises, so does thepressure on each of aviation’s key sub-sys-tems—like baggage handling, forinstance. Last year, mishandled bag fig-ures rose in two key global markets: theU.S. and Europe. Recently, AirportMagazine talked to SITA Vice President,Airport Services Catherine Mayer aboutthe technology side of baggage handling—what’s happening now, and what’s justahead for airports and airlines battling tokeep luggage moving to the right place, atthe right pace. (The transcript has beenedited for length and clarity.)

AM: Mishandled bags are on the risein the U.S., with five straight year-over-year increases, according toDOT statistics. In Europe, the numberof mishandled bag reports jumped 12percent last year compared to 2005.What is technology doing, to helpreverse this trend?

Catherine Mayer: Technology hasbeen helping in this area since themid 1990s, when [industry] intro-duced automated baggage reconcilia-tion systems as well as the automatedbaggage sortation systems. Today theindustry is using bar codes. We areadding in the capability of RFID(radio frequency identification). Wehave messaging systems that, withthe help of IATA (International AirTransport Association), have a stan-

dardized format. We have tracing sys-tems that, once a bag is lost, enablesall the airlines to exchange data andtrace a bag. So we are building a com-prehensive technology solution, andthis is really what has helped us andwill continue to help us improve.

My feeling is that anytime we canautomate the process and reduce thehuman error elements, if you will, andget the information to the people thatneed to know or the systems that needto know in real time, the better off wewill be. We really will be able toimprove the customer service, reducethe cost, and enhance security.

We use technology to track the bagin transit, so whether it is tail-to-tailor whether it has to be reintroducedinto the security system and takenfrom the aircraft back to the terminalto go through an EDS machine, theairlines, ground handlers and airportscan make informed decisions onwhether to hold a departing plane ornot for those transfer bags, to make aninformed decision based on howmany bags they are missing.

Sometimes you have the rampagent just looking at a piece of papersaying, “Well, I know I am supposedto have 70 transfer bags,” but he does-n’t necessarily know how many haveshowed up, especially near departuretime. So the use of technology willallow for the tracking of those trans-fer bags, so that everybody can makea more informed decision. If theydecide the plane has to leave, theyhave to release the plane; the bags canbe re-flighted and the informationsent to the passenger, to the down-line stations, to the other interlineairlines, whoever needs to knowautomatically.

AM: Can you talk about the ability ofsmaller and medium size airports touse some of these services? Are theywithin reach of most airports that

handle commercial passenger flights,or is there a cost barrier?

Mayer: This is very affordable for thesmall, medium, and large airports, oreven if an airport wants to only con-sider it by terminal. We just didTerminal 4 at JFK, and at Chicago-O’Hare, it is installed in the interna-tional terminal. But I believe that it isvery affordable, and it becomes reallyobvious when you take some simplefigures and work through the busi-ness case. You will see how we get toestimated savings really fast.

Using industry averages, if you takea medium-size airport that handlesapproximately 6 million bags peryear, that’s 50 to 70 flights per day.You assume the industry average ofapproximately 1 percent of mishan-dled bags per year, or 60,000 bags.

[Industry averages tell us that] mis-transferred bags are the bulk of theproblem, or 54 percent of the prob-lem, and then you have the remain-der [46 percent] due to local issues.You use an average price of $95 a bag,which is something that IATA hascome up with that is the average costfor airlines and you make the calcula-tions. To be conservative, we willlook to resolve 10 percent of thetransfer bag issues and 15 percent ofthe local issues, although we wouldhope an airport could resolve morewith an integrated baggage system.

An airport that has just invested ina system could generate up to$700,000 in cost savings for mishan-dled bags, immediately in one year.Based on the cost of the system, itwill be an easy ROI (return on invest-ment) within a year and a half.

Now, of course, the airports don’tsee this savings on their bottomlines, but they do benefit. The air-ports are providing a better service.They are improving their securitybecause they know where the bag is

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at all times and it is traveling withthe passenger, but the real benefici-aries of the cost savings are the air-lines because they are not payingout the mishandled bag cost.

The customer is a whole otherdimension. We don’t even know howmuch money is wasted in their timelooking for a bag or frustration orgoodwill.

From the airport cost-saving per-spective, you can reduce the amountof manpower because you have bettertracking of those bags. You willreduce the number of mishandledbags around the airport.

We have to look at it as what doesthe airport gain? I believe it is provid-ing better service quality to their ten-ants, and their end-user, the passen-ger, but I don’t know that they willsee the immediate $700,000 off theirbottom line because, again, it is theairline that is incurring the cost ofmishandled baggage .

AM: But there is something to be saidfor spending money to enhance yourcustomer’s experience.

Mayer: Yes. I have had the responsefrom some airports, “Look, that is notmy savings. That is an airline’s sav-ings.” [Early-adopters like] Las Vegasand Hong Kong, they say, “We don’tcare. We just want to get the bagsthrough our system faster, have it bemore accurate, have less mishandledbags on the aircraft. So that is why weare going to invest in this system our-selves. We are investing in our infra-structure to improve the service.”

Even if the airports don’t pay forthose mishandled bags, they are mak-ing an investment in an automatedinfrastructure, improved service andenhanced security.

AM: So you are seeing more airportswilling to consider these kinds ofinvestments?

Mayer: Absolutely. We see that theinvestment in baggage managementsystems is moving away from the air-lines, who have been the traditional

owners and investors of these systems,to the airport side, for a few reasons.

One is because over the last sevento 10 years, airports have been takingback control of their infrastructure—the technology infrastructure toenable communications and sharingof data across their property. This istheir bloodline because it is the waythey share information.

It is only natural to believe that bag-gage processing systems, and theinfrastructure required for RFID oreven bar codes, is absolutely a part ofthat infrastructure and, therefore, [theairports’] responsibility. So the shiftin the industry is for baggage manage-ment systems to be transitioningaway from airlines and movingtowards airports.

Also, I believe that at this point intime, airports have the ability to fundthese sorts of activities better than theairlines simply because the airlineshave other competing priorities fortheir budgets. It is not that they don’tcare, but let’s face it: One percent ofall bags is not a lot, and maybe theyhave more [cost] pressure from otherareas such as fuel or labor issues.

There is definitely an increase ininvesting in technology to improvebaggage management, but we see it asbeing the airports making theseinvestments more than the airlines,which is an absolute shift from theway it was in the past.

[According to a recent SITA airportIT trends survey,] 49 percent of theairports that responded said thatinvesting in baggage processing sys-tems is a high priority for this year,and that is consistent with recentyears. So airports are investing in it.

AM: Whereas, on the airline side, it isa lower priority?

Mayer: Again, I think competinginterests help dictate that. Anotherimportant point is that for an airlineto really derive the full benefit, orROI, on any baggage managementsystem, it has to implemented sys-tem-wide, which for some airlines isa challenge if you are a big global car-

rier. So there is major investmentinvolved.

As an industry, we are going toderive the most benefits when it isimplemented system-wide, but air-ports aren’t going to wait for all air-lines to do that. Airports are going totake advantage of the technologiesthat can improve the service andreduce their cost, their manpower,and the number of errors locally. Asmore and more airports come onlinewith these integrated technologies,the better off we are all going to be,and it will just be a natural transitionof ownership from the airlines.

AM: Let’s go back to RFID.Widespread airport adoption seemsslow. The cost of tags alone has beencited as an inhibitor, let alone systeminfrastructure costs. Can you talkabout some of the lessons learned—from SITA’s perspective—from theexisting installations, and then whatare some of the big hurdles that real-ly do have to be overcome?

Mayer: In the 2006 airport IT trendssurvey, 44 percent said they wouldimplement RFID within the next fiveyears. Airports are investing. But youare right. We have had a slow adop-tion rate in our industry, and you hiton one of the two main reasons. One

SITA specializes in providing variousdata-driven services to airlines andairports. Among the areas where thecompany’s focus has grown in recentyears is in baggage handling—specifi-cally, systems that provide supportfor those that move bags, or need toknow where bags are. SITA’s baggageservices portfolio features severalproducts, including WorldTracer, thelost-baggage tracking system that isused by over 400 customers;BagMessage, which links databetween airport baggage systemsand airline departure control systems,is in use by nearly 200 airlines at 100airports, and BagManager, the pas-senger/bag matching systeminstalled at 44 airports. A

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is definitely the cost or the fear of thehigh cost, and the second due to thelack of standards. We addressed thestandards issue last year when[through IATA] we finally agreed tothe frequency and data format. As faras the cost side goes, the price of thetag was very high. There is no doubtthat it is still higher than a regularpaper tag, but it is coming down.

As far as the infrastructure cost itself,the antennas and the networks thatyou need to run an RFID solution, it isvery affordable—I would argue it does-n’t cost any more, and it might evencost less, than bar code infrastructure.So the costs are going to be contained,and then the real benefit is going to bedriven when we can integrate it, use itin more locations.

As far as the challenges go, I thinkone is until such time that RFID isadopted globally or throughout [theU.S.] system, you are still going tohave to have both types of informa-tion on the bag tags: bar code andRFID, so that the down-line stationknows what happened, where thisbag is supposed to go to. So there is alittle bit of a challenge there.

Just like any other technology—andit has been successful in other indus-tries— I believe that we are movingtowards embracing RFID within thenext two to five years. It will contin-ue to grow. There are more and moreairports trying it or implementing it.

AM: Can you characterize those air-ports in any way? Are they mostlyinternational gateways or some onthe domestic side?

Mayer: It tends to be the larger air-ports at this point in time. Thenotable exception to this isJacksonville (Florida), which hasbeen a thought leader when it comesto new technology and security andhas piloted RFID. Putting that airportaside, I believe that you see it withthe larger airports because they canreally derive the benefits the fastest,consider the number of bags in theirsystems. That is why they are goingfor it. A


general aviation gaWhen one thinks of marketing an airport,

especially a general aviation field, thereare many things that come to mind. Some

of these concern only pilots; some concern bothpilots and passengers. What is the proximity tothe town or city that is the intended destination?What is the length of the runway or runways?What is the FBO like? Or if there is no FBO, whatis the extent of the fueling and ancillary servicesthat the airport authority offers? And of course,strictly from a pilot’s perspective, what navigationaids are available for approaches and landings?

This last item is most important when it comesto smaller general aviation airports, which arefrequently in remote locations, perhaps withshorter runways and often with no ILS approach.It can become especially challenging when thepilot is shooting an approach when conditionsare down to minimums.

Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is amajor part of FAA’s plan to transition from aground-based air traffic management system to asatellite-based system, formerly called FreeFlight and now named NextGen. Using GPS,WAAS employs a network of ground stationsthroughout the US to enhance the integrity—oraccuracy—of the GPS signal. WAAS is designedto offer pilots the additional accuracy to use GPSin all phases of flight. The system was commis-sioned in 2003 and provides both lateral and ver-tical guidance for a precision approach down to200 feet (depending on the airport), the equiva-lent of a Cat 1 ILS approach.

Montgomery County Airpark (GAI) is one airportto promote the advantages of WAAS. Situatednorthwest of Washington, D.C., in Gaithersburg,Md., the airport has one 4,200-foot runway—14-32—and logs about 110,000 operations a year. It ishome to about 200 based tenants and is the secondbusiest general aviation field in Maryland, behindMartin State. GAI was one of five general aviationairports to benefit from FAA fast-tracked WAAS

installations in 2000. The others were Leesburg,Va.; Manassas, Va.; Frederick, Md.; and Oshkosh,Wis. Prior to the installation of WAAS for runway14 at GAI, pilots had to rely solely on VOR andNDB approaches.

John Luke has been the airport manager sinceearly 2004 and is also an experienced pilot. Hemakes it clear that he considers WAAS to be a mar-keting asset for the airport. “With the VLJs [verylight jets] coming online soon, we expect WAAS tobe a very valuable approach here at the airport,”stated Luke. “It is a more accurate landing tool thanan NDB or VOR. With our WAAS approach we canoffer lower minimums—262 feet—than Frederick[Md], which are 300 feet. The corporate guys loveit. WAAS is also easier to fly than a standard GPSapproach.”

Luke estimates that of his 200 based tenants,about 20 have equipped their aircraft with theavionics necessary to fly a WAAS approach. Hepegs the cost to equip an aircraft for the precisionlanding capability at “several thousand dollars.”

The benefits of a WAAS approach to pilots areobvious. What about some of the advantages foran airport?

“WAAS is easier to install at an airport than anILS,” said Luke. “You don’t have to buy land fornavigation aids as you would for an ILS. We had tocut down some trees on the approach to 14 but thatwas about it.”

According to the FAA, for non-Part 139 airportsin the US there are now 1,672 WAAS-capable pro-cedures, including GPS, LNAV, LNAV/VNAV,and/or LPV. Of that number, 619 are stand-aloneGPS approaches and 1,053 are RNAV. For Part 139airports, the numbers in both categories are consid-erably lower. Not surprisingly, Luke says that thereis a tremendous backlog of airports that haveapplied for WAAS approaches. A

Clif Stroud may be reached at [email protected]

WAAS As A Marketing Tool by Clifton Stroud

atairport tech


International RAMDebuts Exit-LaneMonitorInternational RAM Associates hasdeveloped an exit-lane monitoringsystem tailored to track both peopleand objects passing the wrong wayinto a secured area. RAMS, short forRemote Area Monitoring System,made its public debut at AAAE’s 79thAnnual Conference and Exposition inWashington, D.C., in June.

RAMS uses machine vision to mon-itor exit lanes and other one-waypedestrian areas for wrong-way traf-fic, nearby loitering, and objects pass-ing beneath the sensors and into thesecure area. The system uses two dif-ferent types of sensors—one opti-mized for larger, slower-movingobjects, like people, and one forsmaller, faster objects, like weaponsor packages being tossed into thesecured area. The sensors are set infour-foot sections that run across thetop of the lane. The four-foot sectionsare modular, making RAMS scalableto different sizes of exit lanes. ARAMS with an eight-foot sensor areacost about $50,000, said Peter Davis,the company’s director of businessstrategies and technical planning.

The system can be integrated intoexisting CCTV installations, or con-figured with cameras supplied aspart of the system. The camerasrecord and archive intrusions,which can be played back via atouch-screen monitor that also ispart of the system. Besides video,the system captures basic informa-tion about breaches, such as timeand location of the intrusion.

The loitering monitor activateswhen persons or objects, such as asuspicious package, stay too close tothe system barrier for too long.

RAMS came out of International

RAM ‘s Technical Services division.Another product being developed bythe group is Skipjack, an all-plasticwheelchair that the company envi-sions as ideal for airports—no metalmeans an easy trip through check-points—as well as specialized med-ical applications.

ARINC Unit DebutsNew IT SupportServiceARINC Managed Services (AMS) hasdeveloped an airport-specific IT serv-ice module for its AMS Service Deskproduct line. The new module,Business Process Management(BPM), allows ARINC to monitorService Desk customer airport IT sys-tems in real-time. Customers alsohave access to the data, so informa-tion such as progress on trouble tick-ets is visible, and can be used foreverything from planning to monitor-ing how well ARINC is living up to itsservice commitments.

“While Business ProcessManagement is not a new concept,this is the first time it has beenapplied to the airports industry,”said AMS Senior Director JimMartin. “This means that airport ITsystem performance levels can beactively tracked—in real time—sothat managers can use data, ratherthan intuition, to analyze andchange processes.”

Adding the BPM module is part ofa three-phased enhancement to AMS,Martin explained. The second phasewill beef up AMS’s automated calldistribution capabilities, which willensure that service calls are beingrouted to the correct subject-matterexpert within AMS. The third phasewill introduce device-level monitor-ing, which will be especially usefulfor airports with off-airport services

that use hardware like remote check-in kiosks.

Using AMS, each business processcan be tailored for each airport and/orsystem, enabling complete flexibilityand accountability, ARINC said. Thesystem also monitors establishedbusiness rules and allows airports toview customizable reports trackingtrouble tickets, trend analyses, opera-tional time and more. Additionally,all dispatch information is enteredinto a database and analyzed for pre-dictive maintenance purposes.

BPM was piloted at Dallas/FortWorth International Airport, and isup and running at the facility. ARINCis rolling it out to its other 20-oddAMS customers, which includesEdmonton, Halifax, and Portland(Oregon). BPM is integrated intoAMS, and does not cost subscribingairports any additional money,Martin noted.

Two Firsts ForAvTurf’s ArtificialGrassAvTurf is installing the first-everglue-down application of an artificialgrass at an airport, company CEO JoeDobson reports.

Working through prime contractorMcCourt Construction, AvTurf is sup-plying Boston Logan InternationalAirport with about 135,000 square feetof artificial turf. The material is goingover asphalt “islands” that are paintedgreen to set them apart from surround-ing taxiway areas. Besides cuttingdown on maintenance—the islandsmust be painted yearly—the turf isexpected to enhance safety by provid-ing a more striking contrast for pilots.

The glue-down application is thelatest in a series of firsts for the newcompany. San FranciscoInternational (SFO) is poised to


up front

become the first airport to test artifi-cial turf with a logo. AvTurf will cre-ate an installation with SFO’s logo onit. The project is meant to trial theconcept of developing a revenuestream by offering revenue-genera-tion opportunities in combinationwith artificial turf installations,Dobson explained. The color isembedded in the fibers. The Bostonand San Francisco projects add toAvTurf’s list of firsts.

The company also has the first arti-ficial turf runway to its credit, atColorado’s Calhan Airport.

Siemens Bags Two DealsSiemens Industrial Solutions andServices Group (I&S) won two recentorders to supply baggage handlingsystems to airports.

I&S received an order from theInternational Civil AviationOrganization (ICAO) on behalf ofGuatemala DirecciÛn General deAeron·utica Civil (DGAC) to installan automated turnkey baggage han-dling system and hold baggagescreening with five security levels atLa Aurora International Airport inGuatemala City.

I&S also landed a deal to supply itsrecently introduced modular SibagSmart baggage handling system toSibiu Airport in Romania. The clientis the German Lindner AG, Arnstorf.Sibiu is scheduled to come onlinethis October. A

Reveal’s CT-80 checked-baggagescanner is on track to see its through-put boosted from the currently certi-fied rate of 127 bags per hour to 200by the fall, company officials report.ARINC Inc. has received a contractfrom Oakland International to installthe latest version of the company’siMUSE common-use technology forpassenger check-in and boarding. Thecompany also will install its JADEboarding pass technology. JADEallows airlines to use bar-code board-ing passes in place of special magnet-ic passes, without any need for costlyhost computer changes. US Airwayshas signed agreements with NCRCorp. to deploy self-service check-insolutions from Kinetics, an NCR sub-sidiary, at all 107 US Airways locationsin the U.S. and the Caribbean. The ini-tial agreement includes software plat-form, 600 replacement kiosks, installa-tion services and a three-year mainte-nance agreement. The replacement ofthe 600 kiosks will begin in mid-Juneand continue through September. A

tech briefs

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The Panama City-Bay County (Fla.)International Airport and Industrial Districtannounced that it had received five bids forsite preparation and paving at the relocatedPanama City–Bay County InternationalAirport. The five bidders for the site prepara-tion and paving contract are: A-B JointVenture, Archer Western Contractors,Odebrecht Construction Inc., PhoenixConstruction Services, and C.W. RobertsContracting, Inc. The airport authority said itexpects to break ground on the new airportin the second half of this year. The construc-tion is expected to take up to 30 months.

Skire, Inc. a provider of capital program,integrated workplace, and project portfoliomanagement software, said it was chosenby the city of San Jose to install the com-pany’s Unifier capital program and projectmanagement platform for construction atMineta San Jose International. The cityevaluated six different solutions over aseven-month period for design and con-struction of a new terminal at the airport.

WorldWater & Power Corp. of New Jerseywas awarded a 20-year contract for the saleof solar electricity from a two megawattsolar electric power system to be located atFresno Yosemite International. The solarproject is expected eventually to provide upto 40 percent of the airport’s annual powerconsumption. The airport is projected tosave nearly $13 million in energy costs over25 years. The solar system will be ownedand operated by WorldWater & Power Corp.

HNTB has been awarded a three-year con-tract for construction engineering andinspection (CEI) services for the Florida DOTDistrict 6 Miami Intermodal Center (MIC),just east of Miami International Airport.When completed, the MIC will serve as atransportation gateway from MiamiInternational to the Miami metro area. HNTBwill oversee construction on several projectsunder the contract, including the MIC rentalcar facility and exit ramp, MIC terminalaccess roadway, MIC Central Station and theMIC/MIA Connector Station. Construction onthe $400 million project is expected to beginthis summer with an estimated completion inthe spring of 2010. A

a s s e n g e r s b y a i r p o r t

TRAFFIC FOR MONTH OF APRIL 2007

AIRPORT 2007 2006 CHANGE

Austin-Bergstrom (Texas) 725,293 675,874 +7.3

Chicago Midway 1,608,887 1,614,710 -0.5

Chicago O’Hare 6,403,501 6,470,444 -1.0

Cincinnati/No. Ky. 1,336,120 1,325,713 +0.8

Denver Int’l 4,038,014 3,832,268 +5.4

Detroit Metro 3,144,859 3,095,973 +1.6

Kansas City Int’l 883,619 826,734 +6.7

Louisville (Ky.) 311,750 306,442 +1.7

Manchester-Boston Reg. 322,050 334,987 -3.9

Milwaukee Gen’l Mitchell 661,992 660,850 +0.2

New Orleans Int’l 641,180 502,042 +27.7

Northwest Arkansas Reg. 96,065 92,232 +4.2

Omaha Eppley Field 350,285 333,961 +4.9

Pensacola Regional (Fla.) 140,611 136,745 +2.8

Port Columbus Int’l 615,390 560,541 + 9.8

Reagan Washington Nat’l 1,669,688 1,686,234 - 1.0

San Jose Int’l 906,653 907,564 -0.1

San Luis Obispo (Calif.) 29,768 29,551 +0.7

Seattle-Tacoma Int’l 2,460,985 2,383,735 +3.2

South Bend Reg. (Ind.) 60,404 61,377 -1.6

Southwest Florida Int’l 924,919 847,758 +9.1

Stewart Int’l (N.Y.) 85,450 26,296 +224.9

T.F. Green (Rhode Island) 414,057 446,433 -7.3

Washington Dulles 2,193,815 1,948,490 +12.6

(Editor’s note: the April/May version of this chart had the year headers reversed. We’ve listed the same airports in thisissue, with updated traffic—and accurate headers. We apologize for any confusion, and thank those readers who pointedout the error.)

up front

day. However, load factors do notimprove, with the airline continuingto fly planes that are only half full.Despite your hard work, your smallairport cannot seem to generatemore than $2 per enplaned passen-ger in revenue from parking, retail,and rental cars. FAA rejects yourPFC application.

After two years, the new carrierfinally has to follow the likes of otherlow-fare start-ups into bankruptcy,ceasing all service to your airport. Alltold, you have given up $500,000more in fees over two years than youhave generated in non-aeronauticalrevenue. (See figure 5.)

Lessons Learned

So, should small airports waive feesto attract service? As the resultsshow, it depends. As an airport oper-ator, you know the market conditionsin your region and have the best ideaof how much your airport might beable to generate in non-aeronauticalrevenue. Under the best of outcomes,your airport shells out some up-frontcash, but in a couple of years, re-negotiates a better deal and generates

enough in landside revenue to gener-ate a surplus, while your airport iscompletely transformed. The mostlikely outcome says your airportshould not bank on brokering a betterdeal in two years, but it is feasiblethat revenues from parking, rentalcars and retail will at least equal thefees you eschew.

Although there is no clear strategyfor dealing with a low-fare carrier,perhaps the most important negoti-ating tactic as an airport operator isto keep an open mind. Waiving feesmay not seem like an optimal solu-tion to any airport, but keep in mindthat it is within the realm of possi-bility that additional revenues fromother sources could cover most, ifnot all, of the discount. Don’t forgetto factor PFC revenues into theequation. If possible, work towardsa deal that gives a new carrier a dis-count in its early years of operationsin exchange for allowing the airportto share in its success in the longrun. Think about getting creativeand tying airline fees to benchmarksbased on number of passengersserved or the airline’s profitability.

A small communities grant or simi-lar assistance would be of great helpin offering those early discounts.

Having difficulty determining thelong-term staying power of a start-up airline before spending thosehard earned grant dollars? Althoughthere are no guarantees, the bestindicator is likely to be the size ofthe airline’s capital reserves. JetBlueraised $140 million before startingoperations in 1999, and has gone onto become a top-10 carrier in termsof U.S. market share. It’s impossibleto know if a start-up carrier is des-tined for fame or failure, but airportsin Portsmouth and Bellingham have160 million reasons to believeSkybus will be around awhile. A

How does this experience compare toyour airport? If you would like to shareyour ideas and information, please e-mailMatt Seitz at [email protected].

Infrastructure Management Group (IMG) is a family of

U.S. companies providing management consulting,

financial advisory, development and technology serv-

ices to airports and other infrastructure industries.

continued from pg 39

ADVERTISER PAGE PHONE WEBSITE

AAAE 7,22,56,57 703-824-0504 www.aaae.org

Analogic 3 978-326-4522 www.analogic.com/security

Burns & McDonnell Inside Front Cover 816-333-9400 www.burnsmcd.aero

CDM 19 800-343-7004 www.cdm.com

Delta Airport Consultants 50 704-521-9101 www.deltaairport.com

The Escalator Cleaning Company 50 800-449-3040, Ext. 11 www.cleanescalators.com

HMSHost Back Cover 240-694-4195 www.hmshost.com

Honeywell Inside Back Cover 800-728-1187 www.honeywell.com/homelandsecurity

The LPA Group 45 800-LPA-1115 www.lpagroup.com

The Millington Airport Authority 56 901-873-5792 www.knqa.com

Oskosh Truck Corporation 32,33 920-235-9150 www.oskoshtruck.com

PBS&J 53 800-597-7275 www.pbsj.com

QinetiQ 15 703-414-5454 www.qinetiq.com/tarsier

Reveal 8 781-276-8400 www.revealimaging.com

Reynolds Smith & Hill 20 800-225-7739 www.rsandh.com

Ricondo & Associates 17 312-606-0611 www.ricondo.com

Siemens 5 877-725-7500 www.usa.siemens.com/logisticsassembly

Stantec 45 207-775-3211 www.stantec.com

aiadvertisers’ index

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a secure feeling

For more information, call 1-800-728-1187 or visit www.honeywell.com/homelandsecurity©2006 Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.

We’re quietly behind the scenes making airports more secure. At Honeywell, we design,

manufacture and implement security solutions to help you solve core-operating challenges.

Our customized solutions drive airport security, improve safety and increase efficiency. With

systems ranging from intrusion detection to digital surveillance to command center design

and implementation, we can be found anywhere in the airport. And our products work easily

together or as a stand-alone solution. Everything we do is built around providing you and your

travelers with enhanced security—and that’s a good feeling to know. Go ahead and put our

sixty years of aviation experience to work for you.

Documents

1-34 - Airport Magazine · ROD DINGER, Redding, California LINDA G. FRANKL, Columbus, Ohio ... SITA VP – Airport Services Catherine Mayer talks baggage …