AIRPORT SECURITY O'HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Airport Security O'Hare International Airport

Table of Contents

Airport Security-O'Hare International Airport (Chicago)2

Company Information2

Facts3

Company Information3

Airport's Security System Against Terrorism4

Developments in Aviation Security After the 9/11 Attacks8

Analysis12

Looppholes and Weaknesses12

Measures14

Contingency planning Exercises18

Airport Security-O'Hare International Airport (Chicago)

Company Information

Currently the world's number two airport in terms of passenger traffic, handling a staggering 77 million+ passengers every single year, Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) stands roughly 29 km / 18 miles northwest and central Chicago and next to Bensenville, Franklin Park, Rosemont and Wood Dale. O'Hare Airport features four terminals, around 180 gates and six runways, and handles around one million annual flights. Transfers to and from the terminals are made by its AS train network, which is a fast, convenient and free service.

Facts

Company Information

The airport currently employs around 50,000 and also generates a further half a million jobs for the surrounding region, grossing some $40 billion for the economy. Covering over 7,000 acres / 2,830 hectares, Chicago O'Hare Airport shifts almost two million tons of freight annually.

The airports works hard not only to provide excellent service, but also to create a pleasant environment and has installed a number of attractions for the enjoyment of its passengers. These include the suspended Butch O'Hare Airplane (an authentic replica of the actual fighter plane flown by the airport's very own namesake), an enormous Brachiosaurus Dinosaur on loan from the Chicago Field Museum, and various art installations and even seasonal music festivals.

Airport's Security System Against Terrorism

The effectiveness and efficiency of the access control system has become a major concern in Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Access control is the process of screening people, baggage, etc. in order to detect and prevent entry of unauthorized personnel, firearms or explosives into the secure O'Hare International Airport areas and aircraft. During the past 40 years, the Chicago government has taken significant steps to strengthen the screening of passengers and their baggage. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, as the number of aircraft hijackings increased, the government demanded that all passengers and their carry-on baggage be screened for dangerous items before boarding. With the increased volume of passengers and the increased awareness of the terrorist threat against the Chicago during the 1990s, a computerized system was proposed to help identity passengers posing the greatest risk so that they could receive additional security scrutiny (Karlsson et al., 2004). This system, known as Computer-Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System (CAPPS), was implemented in 1998 and is in use now by most Chicago air carries. CAPPS enables air carriers to classify passengers into two categories: “selected” who require additional security attention and “non-selected” who do not 16].

Aviation security is an important concern of national interest. Baggage screening security devices and operations at O'Hare International Airport stations throughout the United States address this concern. Determining how and where to assign (deploy) such devices can be quite challenging. Moreover, even after such systems are in place, it can be difficult to measure their effectiveness. Uncovered flight segment (UFS) and uncovered passenger segment (UPS) performance measures provide a useful framework for measuring the ...