A two-year investigation led by U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) led to a report released on Monday detailing widespread inconsistencies in measures taken by airports and air carriers to identify insider threats to aviation security.
Katko, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Protective Security, undertook the investigation to assess current airport access controls, as well as aviation threats and solutions.
“This report is the result of two years of intense oversight efforts,” Katko said. “At a time when we face increased threats from homegrown radicalization and lone-wolf terrorism, we must ensure that our airport access controls are strong and that we are doing all we can to mitigate the insider threat to aviation security.”
The investigation revealed that a majority of airports don’t have full employee screening at secure access points and that credentialed aviation workers don’t have proper training to identify and report insider threats. Additionally, disputes between industry and government stakeholders have impeded needed aviation security reforms.
The report recommends that operators and air carriers better educate aviation workers about insider threats, that credentialing processes be regularly reassessed to strengthen standards, and that airports and air carriers examine the costs and feasibility of providing expanded employee screening.
“The recommendations outlined in this report, along with the requirements of the Aviation Employee Screening and Security Enhancement Act of 2017, which I introduced (on Monday), will serve as a roadmap for TSA, airports and air carriers to close security vulnerabilities at our nation’s airports,” Katko said. “Our nation’s aviation system is interconnected, and we are only as secure as our least secure airport.”
The report also recommends the Transportation Security Administration identify airports where relationships between the agency and stakeholders need improvement, increase covert testing of playbook operations at airports to gauge security effectiveness, and deploy more strategic employee screening measures.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said America’s aviation sector remains “a crown jewel” of ISIS and other terrorist groups targeting the homeland.
“As they continue to plot against us, we must be ready to confront them at every turn,” McCaul said. “I commend Rep. John Katko’s leadership on this important national security issue and specifically the subcommittee’s hard work assessing the vulnerabilities facing our aviation sector from within.”