Air Transport Association Says TSA Certified Cargo Screening Program Key to Meeting Air Cargo Security Mandate

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, in a letter to air cargo shippers regarding the congressionally mandated August 2010 deadline for 100 percent screening of all cargo on passenger planes, outlined its support of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Certified Cargo Screening Program (CSSP) and urged those shippers to immediately contact TSA to learn more about the benefits available to participants.

Air carriers are working closely with their partners in the shipping and forwarding sectors to ensure that service levels remain high and the integrity of shipments is protected as the new screening mandate is implemented. CSSP benefits shippers because it enables cargo to be screened before individual cartons are secured to shipping pallets with banding or shrink-wrap. This is critical, because TSA-certified screening methods available to forwarders and airlines significantly restrict the size of cargo that can be screened, and there is no TSA-certified technology capable of screening large airfreight skids and pallets. For certain types of pharmaceuticals, electronics and fresh produce, CSSP allows screening to be performed as an integral part of the normal sealing and packaging process. Expansion of CSSP to manufacturers, shippers and freight forwarders that ship large cargo skids and pallets is critical to meeting the 100 percent screening mandate.

"Airlines met the deadline to screen 50 percent of all cargo, but meeting the requirements to screen 100 percent of all cargo will be substantially more challenging," said ATA President and CEO James C. May. "We believe that CSSP offers our customers the best solution to meeting the 100 percent screening mandate, providing maximum security with minimal disruption to the supply chain."

ATA airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For additional information about the industry, visit www.airlines.org.