Airport and Air Cargo Operations and Security

Introduction

In the aviation industry, airport operations are considered the most intricate and complex.
This is because an airport is not about passengers just booking their tickets, cargo being
embarked and disembarked, and commercial jets landing and taking off on runways. An airport,
especially those involved in commercial passenger and cargo transportation, is one giant
aerodrome with extended facilities and activities. Larger transnational airports, such as the John
F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City or the Dubai International Airport in the
United Arab Emirates, have multiple passenger terminals, airport security centers, taxiway
brides, aprons, and passenger facilities, such as lounges and restaurants. These airports receive
hundreds of thousands of flights and handle millions of passengers and pounds of cargo annually
(Oestergaard, 2023). Handling multitudes of people and vast amounts of luggage and cargo
requires a highly trained and well-organized army of personnel and a complex network of
systems, departments, and cutting-edge technology, from booking and billing to
passenger/luggage assortment and security checks to aircraft boarding and disembarkation.
Slight mistakes can compromise security, disrupt supply chains, and cause catastrophic economic
impacts and long-term reputational damage that can take years or decades to repair. Balancing air
cargo and passenger operations is a delicate and fine line that airports must tread carefully.
This paper summarizes all the lessons learned in this course, especially regarding airport
operations. It begins with an overview of airport operations before delving into the challenges
airport security officials face during ground operations. It also outlines government oversight on
air cargo security, economic impact that airport security issues can pose, types of airport security

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issues and their challenges, types of cargo operations, and the impact potential air cargo
disruptions can have on the supply chain.

An Overview of Airport Operations

Airport operations are often categorized into four different areas: ground, airside, invoicing
and billing, and information management operations. As the name suggests, ground operations
are the activities occurring when airplanes, passengers, and cargo/freight are on the ground.
These activities are sometimes called “terminal operations” as they involve the daily operations
inside aircraft parking areas and passenger terminals. They include, but not limited to,
passenger/cargo/luggage handling (assortment, labeling, and screening), aircraft handling and
loading/unloading, runaway deicing, staff training, catering, customer services, guaranteeing
passenger security, and maintaining halls,
Airside operations are activities linked with direct supervision of the airspace and airfield.
Ground crew and air traffic control personnel are the two main groups involved in airside
operations. The ground crew directs aircrafts and other vehicles and activities in the landing area.
Their roles include, but not limited to, inspecting taxiways and runways regularly, responding to
airfield emergencies and incidences, managing wildlife to reduce the risk of interference with
aircraft takeoff or landing, and other field operations, including aircraft taxiing, lifting, towing,
jacking, mooring, and hangaring. Air traffic control oversees operations in the control towers.
The group principally ensuring the safety of the airspace by regulating how air traffic flow. Roles
include passing critical information to pilots regarding weather and runaway conditions, issuing
landing and takeoff permissions, and communicating flight route changes when runaways are full
or weather patterns are extreme.

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Billing and invoicing operations deals with aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue
streams. Airport or aeronautical invoicing and billing entails generating and managing invoices
for services offered by airlines, airports, and other third-party contractors operating within the
premises. This includes services like fuel charges, passenger facility charges, catering fees, and
landing and parking fees. These fees are often levied on passengers, visitors, cargo, or private jet
owners. Aeronautical billing principally involves collecting, estimating, and calculating revenues
from various services, products, and activities rendered by airports.
The final segment of airport operations is information management, a function directly
linked with gathering, communicating, and distributing all information related to airport
operations, including, but not limited to, passenger and baggage data (including security), flight
operations/routes/schedules or fuel requirements, ground operations (such as equipment usage
and number of airport capacity), emergency and crisis preparedness, retail/billing/commercial
operations (sales, revenues, and inventory), regulatory compliance, and IT infrastructure
(information security procedures/protocols, communication networks, and data systems).

Ground Handling – Challenges Facing Facility Security

Ground operations are often docked with several security challenges that can jeopardize
the safety of airport facility crew/personnel, passengers, visitors, aircraft, and property or
equipment. Some of these security concerns may include unauthorized access to airport premises
(runaways, hangers, lounges, and terminals), insider threats, drone threats or unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs), terrorism threats, cargo theft, cybersecurity threats and cyberattacks on
information systems and networks, noncompliance to professional ethical standards and
international/statutory/federal regulations, and potential accidents due to aircraft, vehicle,
equipment, and system failures.

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Security breaches and system/network/equipment/aircraft failures can have far-reaching
and damaging effects to airports and airlines. Security concerns, system failures, or cyberattacks
can compromise the safety and well-being of aircraft, passengers, airport personnel, and cargo. In
most instances, this can result in property damage, accidents, or elicit fear among the public.
This can lead to negative publicity and reputational damage to airports, aspects that can take
years or decades to unwind. In most instances, a security alarm or network attack can disrupt
airport operations, lead to temporary shutdown, cause flight cancellations or delays, and
inconvenience passengers or cargo customers. This can significantly wane customer confidence
in airports. Between 2020 and 2022, the common cyber attacks in the aviation industry include
ransomware attacks (22%), data breach (18.6%), phishing (15.3%), and denial-of-service
(DDoS) attacks (7.3%) (Transport Security International, 2023).
Government Oversight on Air Cargo Security

In the United States, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) are the two core government agencies responsible regulating,
controlling, and overseeing air cargo plus passenger security in airports and other ports of entry.
The security and safety of all cargo entering their US by air is controlled by these two agencies.
These bodies screen and scrutinize cargo for potential explosives, contraband (illicit drugs and
unauthorized shipment of animals, crops, and other consumer goods), and other security threats.
TSA and CBP operate under the Department of Homeland Security. In recent years, TSA and
CBP have implemented a multi-layered approach to guarantee air cargo security, including
explosive detection canine teams, improvement screening protocols for established/known
shippers, no-notice inspections, and covert tests of cargo operations.

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TSA has presently trained more than 650 canine explosive detection squads for law
enforcement agencies to deploy locally at airports and other transportation networks. TSA pays
for the certification, maintenance, and training of the dogs and reimburses partially security
agencies for certain costs, such as handler salaries. Additionally, TSA has over 166 multimodal
canine teams that screen cargo at the country’s busiest airports. These teams center on bulk cargo
shipments and configurations that cannot be effectively screened through available technologies
(EveryCRSReport.com, 2018).
The DHS established the National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security program to
address the hazards, security threats, and complexities, growing size, and dynamic global supply
chain. The Strategy establishes two core goals: promoting the secure and efficient movement of
goods and fostering a global supply chain network that is ready for and can endure the ever-
evolving hazards and threats, and quickly recovery from potential supply chain disruptions
(Department of Homeland Security, n.d.).

Economic Impact

Airport security threats and challenges can pose a considerable economic impact on
airports, its personnel, investors, and partners. This can have a ripple effect across the entire
aviation sector and the general economy. These effects can be direct or indirect, ravaging
airports, airlines, business within and outside the airport, and local economies. For airports and
airlines, security threats can mean service disruptions, including flight diversions to neighboring
airports, cancellations, delays, or aircraft grounding. These delays and disruptions can have
direct financial impact to airports, airlines, and other businesses (such as catering services) that
directly depend on passenger traffic to earn revenues. Flight cancellations, rescheduling, and
redirections can lead to lost revenues from passenger tickets, cargo fees, aircraft parking, and

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other commercial activities. Airports can lose billions of dollars in revenues and profits from
these security threats, income that can jeopardize the financial health of airports and other
businesses across the supply chain, including airlines.

Airport Security and Its Challenges

m

Cargo Operations

Impact of Air Cargo Disruptions on the Supply Chain

Conclusion

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References

Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security.
https://www.dhs.gov/national-strategy-global-supply-chain-security
EveryCRSReport.com. (2018). Security of air cargo shipments, operations, and facilities.
https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R45082.html
Oestergaard, K. (2023, Oct 3). Top 100 airports in the United States: 2022 traffic figures and
2023 forecast. Flight Plan: Civil Aerospace Insights from Forecast International.
https://flightplan.forecastinternational.com/2023/10/03/top-100-airports-in-the-us-2022/
Transport Security International. (2023). Cyber security in aviation facing increased challenges:
A variety of moving pieces makes it hard to mount proactive defense against hackers.
https://www.tsi-mag.com/cyber-security-in-aviation-facing-increased-challenges-a-variety-
of-moving-pieces-makes-it-hard-to-mount-a-proactive-defense-against-hackers/