From my source still in the industry. Circulated by IATA yesterday 17/05/5
Over the past several weeks, there have been numerous press and industry reports suggesting that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would expand the scope of this directive to cover more last points of departure (LPD) to the US. At this point, DHS has made no formal announcements on any expansion of this directive. However, below outlines recent developments in this regard:
· On 12 May, representatives of the US and EU met via conference call to discuss the potential expansion of the directive. As a result of that meeting, the US and the EU will meet next week in Brussels to decide on the best path forward to address this security threat. We do not expect the US to make any announcement on expansion until that meeting is concluded.
· On 9 May, the ICAO Council met to discuss the issue, a meeting in which IATA was able to participate. The Council agreed to set up a multidisciplinary group (cargo, security, flight operations, and dangerous goods) to address the issue urgently. IATA and Airports Council International have been invited to be part of this group.
· On 10 May, IATA facilitated and participated in a Security Summit in Washington, DC involving airlines, airports, and regulators to discuss the security threat and how to address it. One result of the meeting is that industry partners agreed to compile a summary of lessons learned thus far and propose a range of short-term measures for consideration by regulators and transport ministers. IATA will work urgently with electronics manufacturers to seek tamper-evident solutions. The IATA Smart Security Management Group will also continue to work with screening technology providers to secure medium and long-term large electronic device screening solutions.
· On 11 May, U.S. carrier representatives met with DHS Secretary John Kelly to discuss the issue. The Secretary provided the participants with a briefing on the security threat but did not indicate how or when DHS would expand the scope of the directive.
· Also on 11 May, IATA briefed US Congressional homeland security staff on our concerns regarding the impact an expansion of the directive would have on commercial air operations. To that end, IATA is preparing a full assessment of this impact to share with government regulators.
· IATA continues to reach out to DHS to stress the following:
o We accept the need to mitigate threats with additional measures. However, we want to help ensure that those measures are effective, operationally efficient, and minimize the impact on passengers;
o DHS needs to continue to consult with industry on the best way to achieve our mutual protective security goals;
o DHS needs to provide industry with lead time to comply with any expansion of the directive;
o Coordination among governments on a multilateral basis is critical when addressing such security threats; and
o The confusion caused by lack of advanced coordination and communication and by industry not being part of determining what is implementable reduces the effectiveness of counter measures.
IATA will inform member airlines via all channels when and if DHS announces an expansion of the security directive. We anticipate that this will happen sometime next week. We are hopeful that we will receive adequate warning and lead time on any expansion. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that will be the case.
We encourage you to reach out to your governments to stress these points, particularly in Europe.