IATA MEETING WITH SEC NAPOLITANO

UNCLAS HARARE 000033 SENSITIVE SIPDIS AF/S FOR B. WALCH EEB/TRA JOHANNESBURG FOR RCO K. MAY TREASURY FOR D. PETERS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ATRN ECON PTER PREL ASEC ZI SUBJECT: IATA MEETING WITH SEC NAPOLITANO ¶1. (SBU) Air Zimbabwe CEO Dr. Peter Chikumba requested a meeting with conoff on January 20 to relay his agenda in advance of a planned meeting at the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) offices in Geneva on January 22 with DHS Secretary Napolitano. Chikumba, an aircraft engineer with 30 years of airline experience with Air Zimbabwe, Ethiopian Airlines, Air Namibia, and IATA, was invited by IATA Director General Bisignani to participate as an African representative in a meeting between airline CEOs and Secretary Napolitano to discuss the security challenges arising out of the December 25 attempted bombing of flight NW 253. ¶2. (SBU) Foremost, Chikumba will stress the global, international scale of the issues. In his opinion, passenger pre-screening and air transport security are international issues that require stronger international standards. He said security issues affect all flights, not just those originating or departing from the U.S., and that he would support any effort to bolster ICAO regulations and IATA standards/practices. He emphasized that stricter U.S. security standards were not the problem, rather the problem was that current international standards inadequately addressed U.S. concerns. ¶3. (SBU) Chikumba remarked that the world must cease its practice of having different security practices for international, vice domestic, flights. He said air travel had become so intertwined and international in nature that it no longer made sense to have two separate security standards. He said he would support formulation of a single set of standards that covered both international and domestic flights. In addition, he called on international adoption of a passenger pre-screening tool, such as the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS). ¶4. (SBU) Although Chikumba voiced support for more robust international security standards; he also voiced the need for additional funding. He commented that the airlines did not have the resources to fund and operate effective security screening systems; rather, security screening should be the responsibility of individual (national) civil aviation authorities. He called on aviation leaders (read U.S.) to lead the funding for more robust international processes and standards. ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: Secretary Napolitano can expect flak from airline CEOs in regards to the U.S. emergency orders that arose following NW ¶253. In particular, Chikumba mentioned that many CEOs felt they could not support 100 percent pat-down searches over a long-term period. That said, Chikumba's remarks reflect an international recognition of the global issues involved and an opportunity for the U.S. to press for tighter international screening standards and increased sharing of passenger data. END COMMENT. RAY