MERCURY Air Cargo at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is now certified by the US Transportation Security Agency (TSA) as one of the first American independent cargo screening facilities (ICSF).
The company will follow TSA rules on screening of 50 per cent of air cargo on all wide-body passenger aircraft starting this month, which will be followed by 100 per cent screening in August 2010.
California Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman, chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence & Terrorism Risk Assessment applauded Mercury and TSA efforts in the implementing of air cargo screening which she considers "a gaping hole in aviation security".
"It's exactly this kind of public-private partnership that we need to leverage in order to keep Americans safe," said Ms Harman. "US transportation systems remain an attractive terrorist target, but these new protections greatly reduce the odds of an attack."
Mercury Air Cargo participated in TSA's voluntary Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP) to certify its 200,000-square foot, on-airport cargo handling facility on Avion Drive as an ICSF.
"As one of the world's busiest cargo airports, LAX needs to be ready to meet these new regulations now and by 2010, when 100 per cent of cargo on passenger jets must be screened on the piece level," said LAWA Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey in a company statement. "Mercury Air Cargo has given airlines at LAX a leg-up in meeting the new TSA air cargo screening requirements."
LAX is the nation's busiest origin and destination airport and ranks eleventh worldwide in tonnage of air cargo handled. Last year, the airport handled 1.8 million tons of arriving and departing freight and mail, nearly 75 per cent of the air cargo volume in the five-county southern California region. Of this total, 310,137 tons (or 17 per cent) were loaded onto departing passenger flights.
Said Mercury CEO Joseph Czyzyk: "By becoming an integrated cargo screening facility, we see a real opportunity to help facilitate cargo screening and especially help out the small- and medium-sized forwarders, who may not be able to afford the costs associated with doing their own in-house screening and/or have the desire to keep up with all of the TSA requirements."
TSA has focused its rollout of the CCSP programme on 18 major gateway airport markets in the US, including LAX, and is looking to implement a supply-chain-wide solution for meeting the new requirements.
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Source: Schednet
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