Airports Council International (ACI) World, ACI North America (NA) and the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together on the development of secure and efficient aviation security operations globally.
The MoU was signed at the ACI Europe/ACI World Annual General Assembly (WAGA), Conference and Exhibition, in Barcelona, Spain, which welcomed over 800 delegates from the aviation community. The agreement sought to formalize multiple workstreams and ensure the continued collaboration on and promotion of global aviation security projects of common interest for the benefit of travelers worldwide.
These workstreams included mutually identifying airports and providing assistance to enhance security through the ACI Airport Excellence (APEX) in Security program and ACI World Smart Security program; collaborating on innovation programs such as ACI World’s first AirportShare project, which will launch live wait times data from multiple airports for passengers and other internal and external data consumers through a standard feed; and exploring and supporting the One-Stop Security Program between select international and US city pairs. This program is intended to increase security effectiveness, efficiency and the customer experience by eliminating redundant security screening.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of ACI World, said, “ACI and TSA have a long-established partnership to enhance security across the world’s airports. In addition, TSA serves as the vice-chair of the Smart Security Management Group, led by ACI World to improve security, operational efficiency and the passenger experience at security checkpoints across the world’s airports, focusing on innovation. We are pleased to formalize our relationship to further advance aviation security operations globally as we collectively keep up with growing air travel demand. TSA continues to be an avid supporter in ACI World’s vision and goals.”
Kevin Burke, president and CEO of ACI-NA, said, “Collaboration is essential in support of our shared mission to provide for the safety and security of the traveling public and aviation workers. With our new MoU among our partners at TSA and ACI World, we are further strengthening our efforts to enhance aviation security while advancing innovation and the use of technology to improve the passenger experience through data sharing.”
David Pekoske, TSA administrator, said, “Through this partnership and collaboration, we are taking collective steps that enhance the security baseline in aviation, while making significant strides toward achieving greater security efficiency and effectiveness, in addition to better passenger experiences throughout the global transportation system.”
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