My Airport Operations

Spranza in conjunction with members of the AVSEC Center Consortium announce the immediate availability of a low cost service designed to assist airport and airline management in complying with today’s International Standards and Practices for aviation security (AVSEC), emergency response and Safety Systems Management (SMS). The service package encompasses a detailed examination of airport or airline documentation, written policies and procedural practices, while providing a comprehensive written report – complete with Corrective Actions Statement. With...

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Introduction We are all familiar with the images flashed across network television, Facebook and the Internet showing the devastations to hit seemingly random nations of the globe.  From earthquakes in Turkey and South America, to Tsunamis and Cyclones in Japan, at times, ours is a fierce and raging planet. Many may remember the video of Sendai airport awash in a sea of sludge, aircraft strewn about while passengers and employees alike, struggle to secure themselves...

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Is there an easy way to compare the No-Fly and Selectee lists to your ID holders besides going through them line by line?  I've been trying to figure some way out with Excel but with no luck yet.  Just curious if everyone else checks each ID holder every time they come out with an updated list every 20 minutes.  Thanks.

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Introduction A decade ago almost no one would have thought that interacting on a global scale through such media as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, My Space or Linkedin would be an essential part of modern life.  Today, as PC’s have become household items – much like toasters, coffee pots and microwave ovens- and nearly everyone pockets a ‘smart phone”, tablet or iPad, at work and at play, social media has become the channel of choice for...

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Does anyone know where the regulations (if they exist) are located relating to the distance that unattended vehicles must be from the terminal building?  I've attempted to get the information from TSA with no luck.  I've also looked through the SDs, 1542 and the TSA Webboard, also with no luck.

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Does anyone use Telos ID for their STA and CHRC over the TSC?  I'm just curious as to how much cheaper it really is and if it's any faster/easier to use than the TSC.  Keep in mind, we don't have a fingerprint scanner (just can't justify the cost for the number of SIDA/Sterile IDs we issue), so we still have the wait time of TSA processing the cards.

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January 26-28th, the Barbados Civil Aviation Training Center along with the AVSEC Consortium, Spranza LLC and our media partner – Aviation News .us, are pleased to present: Initial Dangerous Goods Training at the BCATC Center in Christ Church, Barbados. This programme hosted & instructed by Mr. Clinton DeVerteuil, PMC,  has been developed in accordance with Table 1.5A of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations 52nd Edition for agencies engaged in the security screening of passengers and...

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By its very definition, Human Factors is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.1 Simply put, Human Factors might be defined as the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body and coincide with its cognitive abilities. World War I...

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No one with any practical experience can deny the importance of the applications of the science of human performance when it comes to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of civil aviation.  From cockpit design to ATC display layouts; from the prepositioning of ground handling equipment to the location and design of the airport fire station; understanding the philosophy and applications of the dynamics of human factors has been a key design concept for several decades...

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In our previous article we dwelled in understanding the human trafficking vs. immigrant smuggling, its effects on airlines and the rate of preparedness seen in immigrant smuggling whilst facing security interview. In this article we shall explore the importance of standards and law comprehending the nature of fraudulent document examiners. It is often noticed that the frontline or aviation security personnel were unable to explain or had limited explanation to the question as to “why...

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by Francis G Spranza, President, Spranza LLC   Savvy airport and airline managers understand that in order to enhance their operation’s bottom line, several factors come into play.  Customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, regulatory compliance and a sound marketing program made up of innovative strategies giving one a competitive edge, all must work together in harmony. So where does one begin?  Whether an existing operation, or start-up venture, sound planning begins with a TQM or Total...

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Several recent airport perimeter security breaches have brought the issue into the public spotlight. Normally, such scrutiny is reserved for the “front door,” of aviation security, which is the screening checkpoint and largely the domain of the TSA. The “back door,” employee access and perimeter security, is regulated by TSA but the actual protection and management of the systems are the responsibility of the airport operator. The recent incident of an individual on a jet-ski,...

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Hello Gang. We have Hirsch Velocity system for our access control system and I recently had the idea that it would save a lot of time, paper, and space taken up by filing cabinets, if I could figure out a way to attach a badge applicant's file (including STA, application, and copies of IDs) to their profile in the control system's database. After much trial and error I was able to attach them as "additional...

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In today’s competitive economic environment, airlines and airports realize more and more, the importance of ensuring a positive customer experience.  Airline owners and stakeholders have over the years shifted their focus from ‘larger and faster’ equipment to awareness in addressing customer wants and needs.  Airports too, have come to realize the quality of the passenger experience correlates directly, along with aerodrome security and emergency response capabilities, in garnering new airlines and expanding revenue.    ...

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  Spranza LLC, Aviation News US, and the BCATC Barbados present a must attend for all airline and airport security, customer service representatives and law enforcement personnel. Innovative Passenger Profiling Techniques October 22-26, 2012 / BCATC, Barbados and Ft. Pierce, Florida - November 2012 In today’s world of suicide bombers, narco-criminals, assassins and sociopaths, policing agencies and mental health professionals need a proactive tool to understand, prevent and interdict. Whether tasked with protecting political figures,...

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With news of the JetSki’er able to claim the fence and access the airport JFK the question of airport perimeter security is again raised. The first thing we need to look at in this case is what happened. JFK has a perimeter intrusion defense system which is supposed to notify security personnel of a potential intrusion. Did the system work? Did the system interpret the individual as an annoyance alarm such as a small animal...

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The recent accusations of racial profiling being used by the TSA’s Behavior Detection Officers may hurt what is an otherwise effective security measure – the security questioning and behavior detection process. Opponents of the program have been waiting for just such accusations and now, unfortunately, they may have gotten their wish. As I’ve written about numerous times, security questions and behavior detection are not only effective security measures, but have been used by law enforcement,...

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Recently, several sewing needles turned up in catered meals on Delta Airlines. While there are public health and safety concerns, and the FBI is investigating, it begs the question, just how secure are the catering facilities that bring food onto commercial aircraft. Also, consider that in one of the most famous hijackings of all time, TWA Flight 847 in 1985, caterers smuggled guns and grenades onto the flight so that the hijackers could successfully get...

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Vasco Núñez de Balboa, -who was a famous Spanish conqueror for being the first one who arrived to the Pacific Ocean, which he called “South Sea”, crossing the Isthmus of Panama-, came to America in 1501, when he was 26 years old. He passed through Panama and the Caribbean Coasts until reaching Cabo de la Vela, actually Columbia. With the incomes of this successful campaign, he settled ground in La Hispaniola, (currently Haiti), where he...

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Currently my CCTV camera matrix is all over the place.  My cameras when in numerical sequence have no logical pattern.  For example my cameras (again in numerical sequence) go from interior cameras to ramp cameras, upper level to lower level.  I would like to bring some logical pattern to my cameras like group all my checkpoint cameras together as well as all my ramp views.  does anyone have a good layout plan they can share...

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Blogging live from the Colorado Airport Operators Association, Annual Conference, 2012, Vail, Colorado (paraphrasing as necessary) Douglas Hoffsass – Assoc. Administrator, Office of the Administrator, TSA The Right Reverend Hoffsass continues his nationwide tour to preach Administrator Pistole’s risk based security programs, most notably, PreCheck and Global Entry. I, Deacon Jeff, will attempt to pass his latest message to you. In a quick poll of the room, while most attendees are familiar with PreCheck and...

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Had a suspicous package issue couple of night ago and it got me thinking and I wanted to present my query to the forum. How much credence do we give a screend checked bag that is now considered suspicous.  My suspicous package was screened at the upstream airport loaded on an aircraft, delivered to my airport and was going around the carousel for 30 minutes before the airline pulled it off of the carousele and...

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It's time for use to change the locks on our perimeter fence gates again.  That has got me to thinking, how does everyone else do it? We have 17 gates that will require a new lock and, as you can imagine, high security locks aren't cheap.  I thought about trying to find some that could just be re-keyed instead of swapping them out every 2 years. Thoughts?

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Does anyone have a Secret Squirrel / Secret Shopper type of program at your airport in regards to security awareness? I'll explain... I'm looking for ideas about a program where an airport operations employee in plain clothes (someone not well known by airport tenants/other employees) performs some kind of simple security violation (piggy-backing through secure access door, no badge on ramp/secure area of airport, etc) in an attempt to be challenged by another airport employee....

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Background For the vast majority of post-baby boomers the term "Suicide Bomber" has become a regular part of near daily vocabulary.However, the concept is neither new, nor as clear cut as one might think. By definition, a suicide attack is a type of assault in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.As a military strategy, Suicide attacks have a long and tenacious history. Perhaps the earliest recorded and best known use...

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