Contact Security Focus In New York

     Harald Zielinski, Lufthansa Cargo Chief of Security & Risk Management Prevention lays it on the line:
    “There simply cannot be a separate but unequal approach to air cargo security,” he says.
    “The industry needs to act together with governments and shippers and other interested parties to create a security system benchmarked in workable procedures.
    “But as the security threat increases, we must be prepared to admit as an industry that nothing is impossible.
    “We need to harmonize our efforts to get security right while advancing technologies that offer both added value to the process and safeguards for everyone who flies.”
    Lufthansa Cargo is about ramping up security at an unprecedented level in advance and in accordance with various governmental mandated edicts while driving the debate toward better understanding all around.
    On September 30, 2008 in New York, independent of any organization either industry driven or governmental, and at company expense, Lufthansa Cargo showing some tangible leadership gathers the largest group of the best and brightest experts that have met to discuss air cargo security in a substantive deep-dish fashion so far this year in North America.
    At Lufthansa Cargo’s second public security conference, and the first to be held in New York discussion moves from current trends and perspectives in airfreight security to what is needed to make air cargo work as new rules come into reality in the months and years ahead.
    In addition to analyzing the international security situation, conferees discuss various regulatory provisions as well as outline technological, process and personal challenges.

A Safir Place… Former NYC Police commissioner Howard Safir speaks at Lufthansa cargo gathering.

    With participation from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), the American Association of Airport Executives and Howard Safir, the CEO of Safir Rosetti, former NYPD Commissioner, the program offers presentations and discussion in a focused immersion activity aimed at furthering understanding and even possibly breaking some new ground.
    “Our approach is to build quality, one step at a time.
    “This dedicated air cargo security gathering explores many avenues and calls for initiatives to be brought forward to benefit everyone in air cargo,” Harald Zielinski insists.
    “Lufthansa Cargo cooperates closely with international authorities, airports, the security industry and its cargo customers to develop innovative and airfreight-specific security technologies, and optimize existing systems.
    “Around the clock, about 100 people worldwide work exclusively for our air cargo security.
    “But we are also putting what we have learned into action.
    “As example, Lufthansa Cargo is deploying 500DT trace explosives detectors that were recently endorsed on the TSA qualified products list, to all 18 of our U.S. airport locations by acquiring Ionoscan 500DT dual trace explosives detectors from Smith Detection.
    “Lufthansa Cargo is the first to deploy these advanced desktop detectors for ground-to-air cargo screening in early accordance with the TSA rule requiring all cargo in passenger planes be screened by 2010.
    “Smiths Detection's Ionscan 500DT is a second generation system designed to identify small amounts of explosives from a single sample in a matter of seconds.
    All destinations served by Lufthansa Cargo in the U.S. market (New York; Newark, NJ; Boston; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Charlotte; Orlando; Miami; Houston; Chicago; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Atlanta; Denver; San Francisco; Portland, OR; Seattle and Los Angeles) as mentioned are getting state-of-the-art explosive trace detection capability from the third quarter 2008.
    “By implementing the regulation ahead of schedule, we are already guaranteeing the highest security standards.
    “Additionally, Lufthansa Cargo has transformed its bases in Chicago and Los Angeles into security hubs with installation of physical access barriers as well as comprehensive video surveillance and use of explosive detection equipment, biometric checks and security guard patrols.”
    For the record Lufthansa Cargo has already converted its bases in Frankfurt, Munich, New York and Shanghai into similar circumstance.
    Harald Zielinski it turns out is a pretty regular guy who instead of being a Doctor Strangelove, looks a bit like the actor Robin Williams, with a face that breaks into a warm smile despite his almost relentless determination to get this security thing right.
    Harald is a former beat cop who served in the streets of Frankfurt, Germany as did his father Leo before him.
    Having covered some local police precincts we know that uniformed street cops are a different breed whether here in New York, Mumbai or in Frankfurt.
    They can see things, sniff out situations and often have sharper instincts than many others in law enforcement.
    Street cops at times not only seem to have eyes in their feet, they are always thinking up ways to tighten down loose and potentially tough security situations whether it is neighborhood or factory.
    Once while supposing what the ideal environment for checking out cargo prior to flight Harald said:
    “Never mind using just dogs and other similar methods to check out freight.
    “What air cargo needs is a giant sniffer that can surround and detect entire containers of freight in one felled swoop.”
    As Harald, the dreamer and doer sees advanced security as an emerging reality, you detect an impatience to get to 100% secure air cargo.
    In a business that can often put narrow company or self interest as paramount, air cargo is lucky to have this guy working to move security to greater heights.
Geoffrey

     (New Delhi)—Air India Cargo (AIC) delivers a major jolt by dropping further expansion plans of its own to add all cargo lift, at least in the near term.
     Whilst the carrier operates dedicated cargo flights to France, Germany and Saudi Arabia, the airline has put forward a Request for Proposal (RFP) for lease of two of its Airbus A-310Fs that have just been converted to freighters in Germany.
     A senior AI official told Air Cargo News FlyingTypers the carrier “could not find profitable routes within the country,” hence, the need to immediately lease out the planes.
     But the carrier has a leasing agreement for the six Boeing 737s that it operates for the nation's postal department—India Post (reported in ACNFT) –and for logistics major Gati.
     So Air India's leasing of cargo planes may turn out to be a successful part of a business plan that could be quite a money-spinner for the airline.
     India Post (IP), for example, has expressed the desire to lease three more freighters, in addition to the one it already has, by the end of this year.
     The planes will be used to support IP services to some 15 major cities in the country.
     The IP result is quite positive as it launched its first aircraft a bit over a year ago on August 29, 2007.
     In addition to IP, Air Cargo News FlyingTypers learned that AIC has an arrangement in place with the aforementioned express delivery outfit Gati to charter up to five or more aircraft over the next several years.
     Reportedly AIC also has plans to lease out freighters elsewhere to postal services of some east European countries as well as possibly even the U.S. Postal Service.
     However it must be said that an underlying factor in all of this is realization that Air India has not really been able to cash in on the air cargo growth in the country.
     According to the ministry of civil aviation, the total cargo traffic in all airports in the country increased 21.5 per cent in 2006-07 from a 15.6 per cent growth factor in 2005-06.
     Private carriers like Jet Airways and low-cost passenger carrier such as Spicejet and others have captured increasing percentages of air cargo growth here.
Tirthankar Ghosh