Effects of Aviation Security Regulations on the Industry

Question
Security Screening/TSALinks to an external site.
This link provides an overview of TSA airport security screening.
Aviation Security Manual (Doc 8973 – Restricted)/ICAO Links to an external site.
The ICAO Aviation Security requirements are the basis for international aviation security for all countries that signed the agreement, including the United States. Examine the security requirements for foreign carriers flying to U.S. airports.
Global Aviation Security Plan: Doc 10118 (PDF)/ICAOLinks to an external site.
This document addresses the need to guide all aviation security enhancement efforts through a set of 
internationally agreed priority actions.
Choose one of the regulations and discuss its effects on the aviation industry’s security. Also, compare or contrast one of these other regulations to the one you chose.

answer
1. Introduction
The quest for maximized security has seen the implementation of various security regulations and their subsequent up/downgrading as security intelligence changes. The events of September 11th, 2001, led to the implementation of stricter security regulations in the USA and internationally. The events of September 11th are notable for an extreme exogenous shock in security intelligence on an airline terrorist threat. This provides an excellent opportunity to apply economic analysis on the effects of an aviation security regulation with a variable level of security protection. An integral part of this study was the decision to choose a specific regulation because the aviation industry is extremely broad and the effects of security regulations can be quite specific to a certain part of the industry. Therefore, it is possible that different security regulations will have differing effects on different airline services. This concept is explored in more detail in sections to. The regulation that has been chosen is the Aviation Security Service Charge (ASSC). This regulation has a very broad effect on the industry but it particularly affects airlines and air passengers. Therefore, discussion on the effects of this regulation can be applied to various different airline services. A brief overview of the broad effects of this regulation will be provided in the next section.
Aviation and the aviation security regulations have been the subject of considerable controversy and debate. The industry has been compelled to install various security measures and mechanisms to protect the nations travelling on air transportation. The interests of aviation security and the economic health of the industry have to be addressed in the decision-making process on how new regulations are to be implemented. This paper will examine the effects of aviation security regulations on the aviation industry. The importance of aviation security regulations as an extraordinary government intervention on the industry is that its effects are seen throughout all the different parts of the industry. Security regulations can be considered as an additional input to the production of air travel, something which is added with the expectation that it will produce a certain level of quality or safety in the service. An analysis of regulations on the aviation industry provides a good opportunity to explore the economic effects of public policies on a specific industry. Aviation security regulations provide an interesting case for applying regulatory economics. It is one of the few instances in which the prime focus of cost-benefit analysis has been shifted from economic efficiency towards the maximization of security measures at any cost.
1.1 Importance of Aviation Security Regulations
The Air Transport Association (2007) underscores the importance of civil aviation to the economic health of the global economy, comprising nearly $370 billion US in direct economic impact and generating, in total, $1.2 trillion of economic activity. It sustains more than 33 million jobs. In light of this significance, the industry is a prime target for disruption, which may come in many forms, from civil unrest to acts of terrorism. The events of September 11, 2001, served as a rude awakening to the industry, bringing about a realization that the global aviation system was vulnerable to a small band of zealots armed with nothing more than a few box cutters. The ensuing changes to the US aviation security regulations were both swift and far-reaching when the Congress enacted the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) (Transportation Security Administration, 2008), resulting in the greatest change to the governance of aviation security since its inception. ATSA was the first attempt to implement a fully integrated system of security with the intention to federalize airport security, and it marked a significant move away from a reactive, “firefighting” approach to security. Prior to this, security in the US was the responsibility of the individual airlines, but the events of 9/11 served as proof that this was ineffective and did little more than pose a minor deterrent to anyone attempting to breach security. ATSA allocated funds to the tune of $4.8 billion to be spent on security measures, a number dwarfed by the $65 billion estimate of economic impact 9/11 had on the aviation industry. The regulation created a comprehensive system of civil aviation security, providing both the requirements and the means. These new regulations were expected to have both positive and negative effects on the industry and its various sectors.
1.2 Overview of the Chosen Regulation
The current and ongoing regulation that is being investigated is the Secure Flight programme that was put forward by the Transportation Security Administration. The programme is an initiative that was decided upon after the events of 9/11 and the commission report which raised concerns about the security of the flying public. The programme was decided upon after TSA was forced to endure a variety of tasking security issues; the program itself is a performance-based programme aimed at increasing the overall security effectiveness for the entire US aviation system. This includes a consolidation of the various watch lists that are now being used for passenger identification and putting it into a thorough and comprehensive system that allows a discrepancy-free identification of passengers that require additional screening and those that are a legitimate threat. This system will be done by comparing passenger information against government lists of suspected terrorists. This is seen as a crucial step for following the events of 9/11 where the commission found that the use of aliases by terrorists was a primary method of eluding detection by watchlist systems to gain access to an aircraft. This requirement is directly related to the ICAO recommendation that requires member states to provide a means to match passenger information with names listed on criminal watch lists.
There are two key pieces of regulation which have a massive influence over the aviation industry and are aimed solely at improving the safety and security of the aviation industry both in the United States and globally. The two Title 49 of Code of Federal Regulations, which is a regulation that controls domestic aviation in the United States and the Chicago convention, which is an agreement that the United States and 185 other nations have signed which aims to achieve the highest common standards in security and safety in aviation through regulations that are uniform in their form and application.
2. Impact on Security Measures
2.1 Strengthening Passenger Screening Procedures
2.2 Enhancing Baggage Security Checks
2.3 Implementing Advanced Technology for Threat Detection
3. Influence on Airport Operations
3.1 Increased Security Personnel and Training Requirements
3.2 Enhanced Access Control Systems
3.3 Heightened Surveillance and Monitoring
4. Effects on Airlines and Carriers
4.1 Compliance with Security Regulations
4.2 Financial Implications of Security Upgrades
4.3 Collaboration with International Partners
5. Comparison with Other Security Regulations
5.1 Similarities between Chosen Regulation and TSA Screening
5.2 Contrasting Approaches to Security Measures
5.3 Shared Objectives and Cooperation among Regulators
6. Conclusion
6.1 Overall Impact on Aviation Industry Security
6.2 Continuous Adaptation to Evolving Threats