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