Safe Passage Security Training Blog

I recently attended an aviation security conference in Dublin, Ireland. The speaker panels were well organized and the topics were very relevant in view of the many threats commercial aviation must mitigate. However, there was a common theme flowing through the conference that stuck with me perpetrated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) who sponsored the event. That theme is simply this – IATA is all about the passenger experience.

Sadly, another air tragedy has struck. Nearly two weeks have passed since Metrojet Flight 9268, an Airbus 321 jetliner, crashed in the Sinai Peninsula. The plane was headed from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia when it came apart in the sky shortly after takeoff, killing all 224 people on board.

Although the incident is still under investigation, speculations are coming in regarding its fate. Could it have been an equipment malfunction since major repairs were done to the aircraft years earlier? Could it have been a technical issue unrelated to the repairs? Or could it have been a bomb planted there intentionally by ISIS affiliates?

X-ray systems are deployed at security checkpoints in many different industries. X-ray operators use them to screen belongings, mail, and cargo. In real-time, these operators must be able to view an X-ray image and promptly make a decision about it - whether the scanned items are safe to proceed or if further inspection is required.

To get to that point, there are a few fundamental topics X-ray operators must have a solid understanding of first. Help operators become successful at X-ray screening on the job by ensuring your X-ray equipment training includes these critical topics.

Currently, X-ray systems are in their most stable form. They have become a proven security screening technology and are used in many markets around the world including transportation, critical infrastructure, and ports & borders.

Until X-ray equipment manufacturers invent a groundbreaking way to revolutionize the X-ray machine and push it to the next level, today’s X-ray systems will continue to dominate the security screening industry.

We are about two-thirds into 2015 and thought it would be interesting to follow-up on a blog post published at the beginning of this year: Aviation Industry Trends, Predictions & Advice for 2015. The original blog post written by our President, Michael Rooksby, listed some aviation industry trends, predictions, and advice for 2015 as given by experts in the industry.

This week, I sat down with Michael to discuss how the expert predictions were panning out so far and to get a better understanding of his own thoughts and insights into the aviation industry. Here’s the dialogue from our Question and Answer session:

It seems like over the past fifteen years, we’ve heard a lot about the Improvised Explosive Device, otherwise known as IED. An IED is a homemade or noncommercial explosive device used to cause pain and mass destruction. It has been a prominent threat tactic used largely by terrorists in package, suicide, car, and roadside bombs to target both soldiers and civilians.

Despite recent media spotlight on these IED attacks in the past few decades, you might be surprised to learn these were originally devised over a century ago. Since then, the terminology has changed and the device itself has evolved, but the core concept of the Improvise Explosive Device remains the same.

At the start of every year, experts release trends and predictions for the airline and air cargo industries. As usual, there is a lot of information floating around and it’s sometimes difficult to make sense of it all. This is especially true as we look at regional anomalies that don’t align with broader global trends.

Having said all that, I’ve conducted a little research, gathered the most interesting information, and assembled them here just for you. Let’s take a look at current aviation industry trends, predictions for 2015, and advice from the experts.