Coping with tough air-cargo inspection requirements
2005 up until 2007 regarding trade and how the mandated levels of inspection are beginning to undermine the main reason for using airlines in the first place — expedited movement.
The trend of food demand in developing countries is surging: “…population and income growth rates have been relatively high in the developing world. Moreover, as incomes rise in developing countries, food demand is shifting from locally produced staples to imported meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, California exported $10.2 billion of agricultural products in 2005, and there has not been a downward trend since.
Despite the booming business, O’Connell poses the scenario of a terrorist succeeding in planting an explosive device in the cargo hold of a passenger airliner anywhere in the world. In all likelihood, O’Connell estimates that Congress would act quickly either to ban third-party freight from passenger aircraft entirely or require “such onerous inspection procedures as to make shipping perishable produce aboard passenger aircraft no longer viable.”
O’Connell’s report mentions the phenomenon of media outlets and news publications continually depicting foreign trade as a process that takes place at “bustling seaport[s]” crowded with fully loaded container ships despite the fact that California’s airborne mode of transport has consistently outpaced waterborne and overland by at least three times.
Homeland Security NewsWire asked O’Connell how a terrorist would go about disrupting agricultural export, and what kinds of consequences could be expected:
A criminal or a terrorist will most likely try to take advantage of the most expedient route that goes through the system’s hoops even though authorities are highly aware of this opportunity. The terrorists win in the event of one attack. Apart from whatever damage occurs, that is to say, an explosion on a place, or any loss directly associated with the event, the political repercussions and the economic loss would be substantial.
California’s agricultural exporters will continue to make appreciable use of air cargo because of the demand placed on ocean carriers to haul vast numbers of freight containers, limiting the ocean-carriers from reaching markets in developing countries. Integrated carriers such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL are not actively pursuing business in exporting agricultural products, leaving exporters dependent on air freight services. According to the TSA, there should be a substantial number of Boeing 787s, 747s, and Airbus 350s by 2020 that will offer direct flights to “second-tier” airports, domestically and abroad. Until that time, the revenue loss in rising fuel costs may increase passenger airfares to compensate.
Those who nee to transport precious artworks — museums, galleries, collectors — also had to find a way cope with the new inspection requirements. Even the faint possibility of an airline inspector with a screwdriver uncrating a Calder sculpture or an early Renaissance tempera painting is enough to keep many in the art world awake at night. This fear gave rise to new businesses specializing in transporting artworks. With offices in New York and Miami, Atelier 4 Inc. (A4), a specialized transportation firm that moves, packs, and installs artworks and antiques, has been classified by TSA as a Certified Cargo Screening Facility (CCSF). The artwork handled by the company is based on the customer’s specifications and priced by the volume (cubic footage) of the load and the distance it is transported. The company provides caveats for its potential clients, stating that without the use of their services, one’s “shipment might be opened and handled by untrained workers at the airlines, or it might go off-site to a third-party location where it gets either opened or X-Ray’ed.” All of A4’s art handling trucks come equipped with the “air ride” feature which transforms a normal suspension system with a pneumatically air-fed cushioning bags to absorb bumps on the road. Clients may also opt to regulate climate and other transporting nuances that show how quickly the company has adapted to TSA’s standards.
