MedAire blog

“The current threat and risk environment demands that aviation security remain among the highest priorities for States and the global international community.” 
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) 2017 

“Greater collaboration among all government and industry stakeholders is needed to keep flying secure, with risk mitigation measures that maximise the protection of passengers and crew while minimising disruption to passengers and the economy at large.” 
International Air Transport Association (IATA) 2017 

To support the calls from ICAO and IATA, MedAire and Control Risks propose a holistic approach to proactively prepare for – and mitigate – risks.

Safe and secure operations require a collaborative approach from the many public and private stakeholders across the aviation sector. 

And, this list of stakeholders is increasing as commercial airline and business and general aviation operators expand routes to service increased demand. Further, airports and associated infrastructure is the first touch-point with which the majority of travellers and operators will interact. 

It stands to reason, then, that aviation security must account for a number of interdependencies. Failure to account for one area may negatively impact downstream operations. 

Aviation security must be thought of on a continuum of Insight, Preparedness, and Assistance. Remove, marginalise, or neglect one component and the system falters. 

Insight, Preparedness and Assistance together create the appropriate security mindset required to proactively prepare for – and mitigate – risks.  

INSIGHT, PREPAREDNESS & ASSISTANCE 

• Insight is a proactive outcome of collecting information, digesting it, and contextualising it against risks to best understand one’s operations and business needs in a volatile, complex and/or uncertain environment. 

•  Preparedness includes the steps required for applying the associated mitigation efforts to ensure, against all known risks, one’s vulnerabilities are minimised or, best case scenario, eliminated. 

•  And finally, when a security breach and/or incident impacts operations and personnel, appropriate assistance services are critical to expeditiously support affected persons and safely resume operations. 

The nexus of these three critical elements will help organisations better understand aviation security in a holistic fashion and provide them the means to secure their people, resources, and operations.

Learn more. Download the paper Aviation Security: A Holistic Approach.