More Oversight Needed in Overseas Preclearance Facilities Selection
ALPA, in a letter to House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) and Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), yesterday urged the committee to explore security issues surrounding the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport. The letter, which was sent in advance of yesterday's hearing on future priorities and challenges at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), also questions recent reports of a preclearance facility planned for Dubai International Airport.
ALPA, which is working with the committee to address current and future aviation security issues, questions the "very real threat" posed by the Abu Dhabi preclearance facility, which began prescreening U.S.-bound passengers from the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 24, 2014. The Association writes: "ALPA continues to oppose the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport. The lack of U.S. air carrier service to Abu Dhabi as well as the unusual pay-to-play precedent that is being set by CBP with regard to future preclearance facilities is extremely troubling and aggravates the immediate CBP staffing challenges at our domestic airports."
ALPA president Capt. Lee Moak and other ALPA representatives recently traveled to the United Arab Emirates to meet CBP officials and raise concerns about the impact of future preclearance facility sites in the region that do not first and foremost serve the needs of the U.S. airline industry. At the time of the visit, ALPA was assured that there were no plans for a U.S. CBP preclearance facility in Dubai. However, recent news reports suggest that CBP plans to open a preclearance facility in Dubai, less than 100 miles from Abu Dhabi, within a year.
"If these reports are true, and another preclearance facility is in fact planned for Dubai, then our initial concerns with respect to Abu Dhabi and the 'domino effect' it will have on other Middle Eastern airports are fully substantiated. If anything, this situation has highlighted the need for a clear and uniform policy on how future preclearance sites are established, but more importantly, the need for congressional oversight and approval of any such facilities," ALPA stated in the letter.