Risk Mitigation Strategies

Purpose of Risk Mangement Plan

A risk is an event or condition that, if it occurs, could have a positive or negative effect on a project's objectives. Risk Management is the process of identifying, assessing, responding to, monitoring and controlling, and reporting risks. This Risk Management Plan defines how risks associated with the project will be identified, analyzed, and managed. It outlines how risk management activities will be performed, recorded, and monitored throughout the lifecycle of the project and provides templates and practices for recording and prioritizing risks by the Risk Manager and/or Risk Management Team.

Discussion

Historically, airline passenger screening functions have focused on checkpoint screening using magnetometers to detect metallic weapons on passengers and X-ray systems to examine carry-on items. These methods have changed little since they were first implemented at commercial airports in the United States during the early 1970s. Recently, however, new initiatives to expand the role of TSA personnel beyond traditional physical screening of passengers and their belongings, as well as initiatives to improve screening efficiency and effectiveness through the deployment of new technologies, have been implemented and are being tested. These changes are coming about largely in response to recommendations and statutory requirements to address threats posed by explosives carried by passengers or in their carry-on items (Kapp, pp. 21).

Following are some of the strategies which should be implemented:

Screening Efficiency and Passenger Wait Times

With respect to screening efficiency, the TSA has set an objective of keeping average passenger wait times to ten minutes or less ever since its inception in 2002. While the average wait times aggregated across the entire aviation system have generally met this objective, wait times at larger airports, particularly the busiest airports, often exceed ten minutes. Passengers frequently experience long waits in screening checkpoint queues, particularly during peak periods at the nation's busiest airports. At many larger airports, space constraints and other design considerations have limited the TSA's ability to add additional screening lanes and reconfigure checkpoints to improve the flow of passengers.

This has resulted in lengthy wait times during peak periods, sometimes exceeding 40 minutes, at many of the nation's largest airports. Wait times are not just a problem at large airports, as smaller regional airports may also face challenges with large seasonal fluctuations in passenger volume coupled with screening lane and workforce constraints that may limit the ability to respond to spikes in passenger traffic. Therefore, in addition to accommodating projected future growth in passenger volumes, the TSA faces ongoing challenges at various airports to improve upon the overall efficiency of passenger screening operations and meet stated wait time objectives without sacrificing performance.

Improving Explosives Detection at Passenger Checkpoints

The 9/11 Commission recommended that the TSA give priority attention to implementing technology and procedures for screening passengers for explosives, something not currently done routinely at screening checkpoints. Provisions to improve checkpoint technologies to detect explosives were included in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. To address the issue of detecting explosives carried by passengers, the TSA tested ...