Security crunch possible
OTTAWA — The federal agency for front line airport security warns reduced funding and increasing passengers may result in a drop in service.
In its 10th-anniversary annual report, the Canadian Air Transport Security Agency (CATSA) says operational funding from the government, “may not be sufficient to maintain service levels commensurate with those” of the last fiscal year.
Established in the aftermath of 9-11 to secure critical air transportation elements — most notably passenger and baggage screening — the agency faces financial turbulence on three main fronts: • An anticipated average 2.9 per cent increase in the billing rates charged by the private security companies that supply CATSA with front line pre-board screening officers. The billings represent almost 72 per cent of CATSA’s annual operating expenses. Yet it has little control over collective bargaining and the resulting wage increases negotiated between the companies and their unionized employees. • Air passenger traffic increased 3.2 per cent last year compared to 2010, and is expected to grow annually for at least the next five years. • Parliamentary appropriations decreased $ 11 million last fiscal year to about $585 million. In addition, under the government’s 2011 budget plan, CATSA must find $59.7 million in annual ongoing savings by 2014-15.
In the last fiscal year, CATSA was able to maintain passenger screening wait times despite trimming $16.5 million worth of screening hours purchased from the private security companies.
But, “given projected increases in screening contractor billing rates and forecasted increases in passenger volumes, CATSA may experience growing pressure to maintain current service levels,” says the new report.