Remarks by Jacques Duchesneau, C.M., President and CEO, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority

How Does The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority Approaches the Training of its Staff?

5th ACI Europe Security Summit
Third Working Session: Your Best Security Equipment is Your Staff
Madrid, Spain, October 10, 2006

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Greetings

Thank you for that kind introduction and for inviting me here to speak to you about CATSA and our Screening Officer training program. I must admit that when I found out that not only could I meet with such a distinguished and respected group of people but could also be in Madrid, well! It was a win-win situation for me!

Estoy muy honrado por su invitation a presentar mi vision de la securitad aeria y de la formacion de los agentes de control. Siempre es muy stimulante discutir de sujetos tan importantes con expertos y homologos en securidad y proteccion de vidas humanas.

Introduction

CATSA was created as a result of the events of 9/11. We are responsible for security screening of passengers and their baggage as well as persons requiring access to restricted areas at airports. In addition to this, we handle the deployment of equipment, the development and implementation of a new restricted area card for airport workers and administration of two policing programs, enhanced policing at airports and the Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program, run by the RCMP. We are responsible for 89 airports and have over 4600 contract Screening Officers that deliver security screening on our behalf.

One of the important aspects of our mandate is training and certifying Screening Officers. They provide the last line of defence before a passenger boards a plane and must be equipped with the knowledge and tools to execute this important and critical job.

Today, I would like to outline the 3 key components that CATSA has identified as essential to our training program and implemented.

1. Awareness
2. Education
3. Continuous monitoring and improvement

But before I get into the nuts and bolts of our training program, allow me to give an overview of what is our vision for Screening Officers' training for the years to come.

At CATSA, we continually strive to train Screening Officers beyond the basics of security.

THE AGILE CONCEPT: GOING BEYOND PRACTICAL TRAINING

Let me explain what this means to CATSA and what we have done to put this concept into action.

Starting from the belief that we must continue to evolve, it is critical for everyone involved in security to understand that complacency is not an option. We must never forget why we were created in the first place – we must forge ahead.

At CATSA, we have developed a concept called AGILE. It is how CATSA is ensuring that we continue to evolve – how we are making certain that what we do today will remain effective tomorrow.

AGILE is both a doctrine and a concept. A doctrine based on the principles of agility, detection, deterrence, reaction and evolution – and a concept – an idea about how to achieve effective counter-terrorism and maximum security in the face of an ever-evolving terrorist threat.

Flexibility, adaptiveness, proactiveness and innovation are what define CATSA as an AGILE security authority – one that can respond to whatever threats and challenges may come our way. Agility is a defining feature of CATSA's operating philosophy and the sum of our counter-terrorism equation.

This equation is broken down into the individual components of the word AGILE itself:

A – is for assess. With the help of intelligence, we need to assess the nature of the evolving terrorist threat. We need to understand the security environment in which we operate and have a clear view of what is on or approaching our radar screen.

G – is for guard. We need to deter terrorists by building layers of defence that guard the traveling public, our airports and our airplanes against terrorist attacks. This is the layered approach to security that I talked about earlier.

I – is for intervene. In the event that we do have an incident or an attack against civil aviation, we need to be ready to intervene. We need to have both the tools and the flexibility to respond.

L – is for learn. We need to ensure that we learn from our experiences – both our successes and our mistakes. This will ensure we remain effective.

E – is for evolve. In order to make certain that what we do remains current, relative and effective, we must continue to evolve into a credible and accountable security authority. We cannot remain static.

AWARENESS

The awareness training that we give Screening Officers is already preparing them to become more flexible, adaptive, proactive and innovative. We are developing today tomorrow's Screening Officers.

I believe that understanding why we do any job is the most important aspect of training. When we understand the purpose of our job, we also understand the importance of the training program; and we execute the required tasks keeping in mind a compelling vision and motivating goals. At CATSA, we aim to give Screening Officers a comprehensive understanding of the types of threats they need to be on the lookout for not only today but in the foreseeable future.

Over the past couple of years, we have begun to focus part of our training efforts on increasing awareness of the threat and creating a better understanding of the aviation security environment. We all recognize that the threat is continually changing and terrorists and their tactics always evolving. Screening Officers need to know what the latest trends and tactics are. They need to understand that in order to stay several steps ahead of the threats, they must be well-prepared to carry-out their important responsibilities and confront whatever challenges may come their way.

To support the sense of purpose and direction, we have introduced into our training program real-life victims of terrorist acts. The moving testimonials of hijacking survivors or relatives of 9/11 victims serve to reinforce the sense of purpose and importance of Screening Officers.

We also believe that awareness is not a one way street. Although CATSA designs and delivers the training program, we can adapt the training program to better reflect the current context by knowing what Screening Officers are seeing and facing in their daily work on the front lines.

To achieve this, we have begun to conduct awareness sessions across the country on current threats and incidents. These sessions provide an opportunity for Screening Officers to learn more about the current environment and allow us to interact on a more personal level to get their input and thoughts on what they are facing. We also provide Screening Officers with regular reports on new and emerging threat objects and any intelligence we may receive to assist them in doing their job better.

Keeping knowledge and skills current, relevant and leading-edge requires a permanent commitment to learning and innovation and an ability to adjust and adapt. We believe that awareness is an integral part of this commitment.

EDUCATION

Let me now move to the education component.

None of us has yet invented one single, magical machine that will go "beep" when a passenger does not represent a threat, and "beep, beep" when a real terrorist tries to penetrate the security system.

Indeed, as sophisticated as our detection equipment gets --- and it is getting better every year --- there will never be a time when machines alone will be able to handle airport security. No technological threat-free cocoon can guarantee airport or airline safety and security.

This is why CATSA has invested both time and money in our training program. Since our creation, CATSA has more than doubled the hours of classroom education and tripled the hours of on-the-job training. We have also incorporated a number of new tools and training opportunities to assist Screening Officers in enhancing their abilities.

Our training is not only delivered at specific airports across Canada in custom-designed rooms but can also be delivered over a secure Internet connection using an interactive, state-of-the-art, distance-learning program.

In addition to our training program, we have introduced new training tools to help Screening Officers stay alert and practice their detection skills which include:

• X-ray tutor (to enhance the ability to identify baggage containing threat items);
• Threat Image projection Systems (to keep Screening Officers alert by injecting threat items into baggage as they pass through the x-ray in real time);
• Enhanced Training Bags (to enhance the ability to identify and handle threat items).

We are also working on building an advancement program for Screening Officers. We need to make security screening more than just a job. We want it to be a career. This program will offer them opportunities to advance beyond the basic Screening Officer level and to take on added responsibilities. For example, Screening Officers who demonstrate good leadership skills and excellent management potential can become supervisors or what we refer to as Point Leaders, which is a nice segway into my next point, monitoring and continuous improvement.

MONITORING AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Point Leaders perform a vital role in overseeing the operations of screening checkpoints and the performance of Screening Officers. This enhanced training module for Point Leaders has been developed and tested in some of our airports and will soon be expanded to others. Point Leaders are just that, leaders. They must provide coaching and mentoring to ensure Screening Officers maintain their level of proficiency and must also identify areas for improvement.

As you have noticed from my remarks, effective screening requires much more than a machine – the human element is a vital factor in aviation security, not only in our training program but also in serving the travelling public. While security is, without a doubt, our number one priority, customer-service and the smooth flow of passengers through screening check-points is also critical. As a result, it is imperative for Screening Officers to have excellent people skills.

Customer service training is paramount as Screening Officers are the public face of CATSA. Screening Officers are taught that security screening must be conducted in a manner that is courteous, respectful and professional. The CATSA philosophy is: Friendly, Fair and Firm.

In accordance with our customer-focused strategy, CATSA is working on enhancing its training program to provide greater knowledge, understanding and awareness to Screening Officers with respect to serving persons with disabilities or those requiring additional assistance. In addition, we stress the importance of effective communication in dealing with a diverse passenger clientele and in addressing language and cultural issues.

CATSA is committed to building a culture of continuous learning in the workplace extends beyond the security checkpoint to our offices and employees as well. This is achieved through the transfer of knowledge among employees, fostering creativity, preparing employees to meet the challenges of an ever-changing security environment, enhancing work-related skill and also improving job satisfaction.

Senior management routinely tours our airports and makes it a practice to meet with Screening Officers face to face and hear firsthand how they feel and what we can do to support them and improve. As our experts on the front lines, Screening Officers are in the best position to provide input into what needs to be fixed and how to fix it. By involving people in improving our system, we believe it instills greater self-confidence, better performance and results in a more positive contribution to the overall effectiveness of our security screening system.

Screening Officers need to know that they are important and that the role they play is critical. They need to understand that failure is not an option – the result would be catastrophic in many ways. This also reinforces their sense of empowerment and strengthens their focus.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude my remarks today by speaking a bit about the future. I believe that if we are to evolve and improve in the area of aviation security, we must be looking ahead.

CATSA's current screening techniques are now focused on finding threat objects and are designed to treat all passengers the same way. Looking towards the future, we believe that adopting more “passenger centric” as opposed to “object centric” techniques could provide operational flexibility and allow CATSA to direct resources from lower threat activities to potentially higher threat activities. This is something we are currently researching and assessing with our regulator and partners.

Integrating risk management principles in the screening process can also help to ensure that CATSA's security programs are more sustainable in the long term.

CATSA recognizes that it is through the creativity, knowledge and skills of its employees that the organization will be able to excel in its mandate and to ensure the security of the travelling public.

CATSA's recipe for continued success: always keep in mind that security-savvy employees are critical to the overall effectiveness of your organization. Invest in their future and they will secure the success of your future.

I am very proud of the quality of our approach to Screening Officer training and of the progress we have made in the short time we have been in operation.

I am optimistic about the future of aviation security and know that together, through partnership and cooperation, the international air transport system will be a hard target for terrorists.

CATSA is committed to working with all of you to improve aviation security and our training programs.

We can all benefit from being more flexible, adaptive, proactive and innovative. Let us all be AGILE. Agility should be a defining feature of any operating philosophy and the sum of the counter-terrorism equation.

Thank You.