August 5, 2014 - The security pillar of the Air Safety Organization caucused on August 4, with a Security Council meeting followed by presentations from TSA and Boeing and a panel discussion on lessons learned during the laser awareness campaign, a joint effort led by ALPA, the FAA, and the FBI.

Darby LaJoye, deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Security Operations in TSA led the group through Government & Regulatory Implications on the Crewmember. LaJoye spoke briefly about the implications of TSA regulations on pilots, including with KCM, then opened the floor to questions. Many security representatives asked the TSA leader about the idea of “risk-based security,” focusing on why TSA singled out certain actions (by themselves or other pilots) in airports.

Faye Francy of The Boeing Company discussed cyber security. Francy noted that the airline industry is a huge global industry and thus a potential target for attacks by hackers, phishers, and even nation-states. “We have to understand this threat,” she cautioned, “so we know how to recognize it.”

Francy is also a member of the Aviation Information Sharing and Analysis Center (A-ISAC), a recently created nonprofit partnership of airlines, industry, and government (including ALPA). She said with cyber attacks on the rise in the United States, aviation needs a public/private partnership to develop a roadmap for action. “This threat requires everyone working together,” she emphasized, in order to fight the various attacks on the way.

Capt. Robert Hamilton (PSA) headed a panel discussion on “Laser Campaign—Lessons Learned,” to discuss this year’s successful Laser Awareness Campaign. He joined Laura Brown, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs with FAA; George Johnson, supervisory federal air marshal, Criminal Investigative Division with the FBI; and Mollie Halpern, public affairs specialist with the FBI. The panel described the positive trend of laser attacks, pointing to a drop from roughly 11 incidents per day down to nine since the campaign began. The group explained how the campaign moved from idea to test to national campaign, and stressed that the partnership between ALPA, the FAA, and the FBI led to a powerful, persuasive, and successful campaign to fight laser attacks. Watch the video and listen to the radio ad.

Throughout the day the recurring theme, as first brought up by Capt. Fred Eissler, Aviation Security Chair, is the need for security to be more proactive than reactive. And with that, the work of the Security Council continues.

The Security Council reelected Capt. Hamilton as the chair, and held a discussion with attendees on security events that they’re seeing in their day-to-day work, brainstorming ways to address them.

Eissler also introduced a new motivational program for the group: “the challenge coin.” These coins, embossed with ALPA’s logo, serve as a form of recognition for special achievements. Eissler presented the first coin of the day to Capt. Sean Cassidy to acknowledge his continued efforts to enhance airline security; the day’s presenters also received a challenge coin as thanks.