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Airport summit starts on Big Island January 9, 2006 Airport officials flew to Kona for the American Association of Airport Executives' 20th annual Aviation Issues Conference. "With passenger traffic meeting, and in some cases exceeding, pre-9/11 levels, the aviation industry faces several challenges, including airline and airport financial uncertainty, funding for critical security projects, continued terrorist threats, system capacity improvements and air traffic modernization," the AAAE said. "In 2006, lawmakers will again have to make tough funding decisions about aviation programs in what is expected to be another tight budget climate." The conference, Sunday-Thursday at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, also drew vendors in the field of passenger screening and biometric I.D. verification for employees. "With the Transportation Security Administration seeking industry and public input on its plan to begin an airline passenger verification program at airports across the country in 2006, the conference is the ideal forum for outlining the viability of using security assessments and biometric-based identity verification technologies in the airport environment," said San Diego-based ImageWare Systems (AMEX: IW), a sponsor of the conference that is showing its own biometric identity management platform. Biometric I.D. vendors are eager to show their services now because the Transportation Security Administration is expected to issue a request for proposals late this month for its Registered Traveler program, in which travelers may voluntarily pay fees and submit to background checks to join a program that lets them jump the line at airports. It's estimated that $30 million in federal contracts await the companies hired to make this work. The conference may also be the latest venue for the never-ending tussle between airports and airlines about landing fees. Airport executives often complain that airlines object to paying their fair share of unavoidable security costs while airline executives describe airports as monopolies that run inefficiently and sock airlines with their bills. |
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