October 5, 2007

Low Cost Airlines- A Risk to the Aviation.....

By Manju.V--TNN
Times of India.


Despite threat, airlines not spending enough on security

Your favourite airline may have gourmet fare on its menu. It may have the best check-in facilities, a well-appointed lounge, efficient cabin crew, good on-time performance and the best airfares the season can bring.

But, what no single airlines in India has is a reliable security network. Despite airlines being top terror targets and despite repeated warnings from Indian security agencies, airlines continue to cut costs on security bills with impunity.

What is amazing is that the amount spent on security comes to only about 0.75% to 1% of the total operating costs or about $70 (around Rs 2,900) a flight. This is the case with all airlines in India," a highly placed airline security official said. "But it does not make any sense to cut corners like this. The expenditure on security will go up to only $100 a flight (a little less than Rs 4100) if the minimum security measures recommended by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) are followed," he added.

Peeved by the airlines' lackadaisical handling of the matter, the BCAS called a meeting of aviation industries' top bosses in May this year and issued a circular stating that the recommendations should be "strictly implemented".

The circular, a copy of which is with TOI, says: "No action has been taken by (the) airlines to implement the committee's recommendations till date. It is, therefore, imperative that the following instructions are strictly implemented by (the) airlines with immediate effect.

That was in May. But nothing has changed despite the UK-terror expose and the numerous security threats to flying. None of the airlines is in a mood to spend that extra $ 25.

And, it's not about X-ray machines or passenger-frisking. The violations cover high-risk areas. Airlines, for instance, do not have even a single security personnel to guard the idle Boeings and Airbuses; they do not have any one posted in the area where check-in baggage is segregated for different destinations; pre-flight, anti-sabotage checks are hardly carried out in accordance with the details in the security manuals.

Time-saving measures adopted by the airlines mean they completely do away with a certificate of security that should be given to a commander when the aircraft is being handed over to him.

This certificate should be signed by the engineering department (it certifies that anti-sabotage measures have been carried out according to the inspection schedule); the catering department (it certifies that catering items have been checked and the crew received them without complaints); the ground support department (it certifies that
equipment attached to aircraft have been checked and only seal-ed/security cleared baggage has been loaded on board); the commercial department (it certifies that all baggage and cargo have been checked); and the security department (it certifies that all the above have been carried out).

"Only commanders of Air India, Indian Airlines get a certificate from the commercial department, accounting only for the security of baggage, passenger and cargo. The rest don't even get that," a BCAS official based in Delhi said.

The security recommendations were made in the R P Singh Committee's report dated June 2001.

The civil aviation ministry had constituted this committee to fix norms for deployment of airlines security staff.

Representatives from airlines like Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Air India were present on this committee.

The BCAS had called for the implementation of the committee's recommendations by September 2005 but nothing happened.

The recommendations are based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)'s guidelines, which means airlines in other countries like the United States and the United Kingdom follow them religiously.


VT
What ever said but it is difficult to believe that the Low Cost Airlines will follow what is told to them by the regulatory body.The top management for there own financial benefits risk the lives of thousand of passenger's every year.
VT






October 1, 2007

Profiling a Strong Anti-Terror tool...


To Profile or not to Profile is a big question for many airlines around the world, anti-profiling groups or civil liberties have gone one step further and tagged Profiling as Racial Profiling(targeted at particular race or religion).

Many people have said a lot about it, civil liberties groups have criticized it gone to courts and filed cases, as a practising profiler , i find it one of the best tool to stop terror however it has to be used with extreame care.

What exactly is profiling? ....

It can be defined as.....Profiling is a mix of interviewing techniques and close observation of selected targets body language which is used to identify and segregate him from the rest with out his knowing and to make sure if he/she are a threat or not to the aircraft and terminal building,in doing so the profiler has to keep in mind that every reaction of the targets body , facial reaction,verbal clue or any other movement of the body is the logical extension of the persons thought process …which will remain constant and carries hidden clues of his exact intetion......The main aim of profiling is to stop the terrorist's escalation towards its ultimate goal.

If we can stop a terrorist prior to his/her taking there seat in the aircraft, it would be a major step in preventing terror in the skies and would make our skies safe.

There are many different types of profiling techniques (most of these do not use machine to segregate passenger, CAPS) the above mentioned is just one of the many.

Profiling is the best way of stopping a threat right there and then it can be used before a passenger even enters the terminal building, it is a weapon if used properly can have very positive results it has the capacity to stop a threat before it goes out of hand. Proflier's are like code breakers who have to break the toughest code ,The human body.

The human body is a like a cryptogram, it is a walking talking one time code pad and the profiler has to break that code ,the human body is an antenna which is sending non- stop signals and the profiler has to decipher those signals to break in to them and come out with the results.

I had to write this as as i favor profiling and i know of its utilities and what it can do,many learned people have said that it should not be used as it targets people of a particular race and religion.I beg to differ here as i belong to the aviation industry and have seen how it works and how it is used, i can't say about people who are hell bent on misusing it, for them it is a short cut ,it like saying you belong to XYZ race or religion so you are a suspected terrorist, that's the easy way out with of the situation...

Airline security and airport security use profiling, it is an added weapon for them. Aviation Security Regulatory bodies world-wide have made profiling mandatory,it now depends how the airlines use it,some favor it some don't as it takes time and there flights get delayed.


Remember there are no short cuts in Aviation Security.











September 30, 2007

Wordpress: My first brush ....not my last


Wordpress
and Back...


So i decided that i move from here and to go to Wordpress and maintain both blogs ,let me mention this that Wordpress is a highly evolved site and is not meant for mortals like me, it gave me a serious dose of complex.......my blogging life is not even a month old..but i wanted to move away from here....

On saying that, Wordpress a very well laid out site with every thing that a blogger would need..while going through the site i saw things which are not here ..and that impressed me, but the site is too complicated for me, folks at Wordpress may say...don't come here if you don't want to , we are happy as we are and we are the best...well you are in some ways... and in some ways you are not.

It took me four days of contemplation ,thinking should i do it or not.....should i go or not.... and then finally i went and i got my self an account...

I am no guru in software and i don't understand head or tail of codes,html, xhtml or xml ,but i want to write,in saying so i also want all the strappings of Wordpress in here...it was the complication which made me think that Blogger was good for the time being...


Reason for going to Wordpress...

Google is becoming like Microsoft a corporation with hands into every thing it reads you watches you..and that worries me...Wordpress is new and i read a lot about it..so i wanted to start blogging there...i did my research , read tons of comments from blogger's ....however i did not realize that it was going to be a tough nut for a person like me who just knows how to use a computer in the simple sense....

I have to evolve to go there ...i mean i have to grow a vee more big...i wish that all that is there ......was here also...

I am not going to criticize which one is good or bad, what i am looking or every one is looking at ease of use.....

I think Wordpress should have two sections for every one who joins.

  • New joiners to use ready made stuff with easy to addon's and delete what they want..same on the lines of Blogger.

  • For advanced users who know what they are doing and don't get lost in the maze.,should go one step further and use the current version at the worpress.com.

  • both should be kept free

I am using blogger with ease,I had to spend 10 min in understanding whats what and then i started...

In the end Wordpress is where i want to end up ...not now, but later till that time i will work on my evolving........and Blogger is a very good platform for people who want to start writing a Blog...