Primer: Air Cargo


Airports are not just for moving people. They are charged with moving large volumes of cargo around the clock. Air cargo contains much more than Louis Vuitton luggage and duffel bags. It includes commercial freight shipments transported in the belly of passenger planes and freighter aircraft in domestic and international service.


What is air cargo?

Air cargo shipments include time-sensitive high-tech and high-value goods such as computer chips, automotive parts, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and perishable commodities like fruits, fish, vegetables and flowers. It can also include live animals, U.S. mail and human remains. It is critical to the nation’s just-in-time manufacturing sector and Main Street’s “when it positively has to get there overnight” economy.


Benefits of cargo transport

Using airports and airplanes to move freight has important benefits to the U.S. economy:

  • Financial: According to the Air Transport Association (ATA), cargo by air is critical to both the nation’s economy and the airline industry.  Currently, it generates an estimated $4.7 billion in annual revenues for the U.S. passenger airlines and $21.1 billion for all-cargo airlines, and accounts for more than 100,000 U.S. jobs.

  • Expeditious transport: More than 80 percent of revenues from air cargo carried on passenger planes are derived from one to two-day deliveries. Mail delivery has benefited a great deal from air transport. Packages are often overnighted this way.


Loading procedures

How does air cargo get from A to B? Some airports serve as transfer “hubs” for air carriers, facilitating efficient routing of cargo to certain destinations. Memphis International Airport is the main hub for Federal Express and Louisville International Airport serves the main hub for UPS. Cargo airlines often have their own on-site and adjacent infrastructure to rapidly transfer parcels between ground and air modes of transportation.


Security issues

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Congress have been debating how to improve air cargo security. The proposed rules and legislation have not been limited to the “belly cargo” placed on commercial passenger airlines, but also the freight loaded onto any freighter aircraft. Most proposals have involved the use of new technology to scan the cargo and assuring a secure loading environment.

 

TSA Air Cargo Security Final Rule

A final TSA rule requires airport operators, aircraft operators, foreign air carriers, and indirect air carriers to implement security measures in the air cargo supply chain as directed under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. To obtain a copy of the Air Cargo Security Requirements Final Rule (PDF), click here.


9-11 Bill

On July 27, 2007, Congress passed the Implementing the 9-11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007.  This bill is the completion of the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission.


Section 1602 of the bill requires the screening of all cargo shipped on passenger aircraft within 3 years, with a benchmark of at least 50% within 18 months of enactment.  The law allows for specific screening methods such as x-ray systems and explosives detection canine teams. 

 

Safe shipment practices already in place

Since Sept. 11, 2001, these procedures are being used to improve the security of air cargo shipments:

  • Known shipper database: Utilizes data and information technology to verify the identity and authenticity of cargo shippers.
  • Canine mail-screening program: Screens mail carried on passenger airlines.
  • Cargo inspection and screening measures: The Department of Homeland Security 2007 appropriations bill provided $55 million for the evaluation of cargo screening technology.
  • Programs to evaluate the utility of explosive detection systems (EDS), explosives trace detection (EDT) and canines for cargo screening.
  • Explosive Detection Canine program: Canines can screen pallets and loose pieces of freight and screen large quantities. More than 400 canine teams are in place today at over 80 airports.

New cargo screening technology

To address air cargo vulnerabilities several technology companies have developed sophisticated devices for scanning cargo.  This includes the X-rays of industrial shipments and subject goods, and explosive detection.  These new devices include:

  • Examiner 3DX 6500 explosive detection device: Used for screening cargo on airlines. Being developed with the help of MIT.
  • Computer tomography: Used for the inspection of containerized air cargo. The system, now in the design stage, would give the inspector a three-dimensional image of the item being screened.
  • Omni View Gantry inspection system: A device, which can penetrate densely loaded sea containers from all sides, is being tested for air cargo screening. An air cargo version is expected in about three years.
  • Z Backscatter Van imaging technology: A portable, industrial-size X-ray device used at some border posts for detecting contraband, often in trucks. Offers photo-like images of the interior of containers and trailers.
  • The fully automated CTX 9000 is being tested in San Francisco to scan the contents of LD-3 containers. Research is ongoing pertaining to cargo handling processes and how the use of existing screening technology affects the movement of goods.
  • Devices designed to detect a heartbeat and excess carbon dioxide are being tested on all cargo flights in Seattle. Both are warnings of a possible stowaway or terrorist. Tests will also determine the flow of air cargo and how quickly it must be screened.
  • The CD-2 Human Occupancy Detector is undergoing tests. Developed in the mid-1990s for the Canadian shipping industry to detect stowaways, the system can detect small amounts of carbon dioxide, indicating human presence. To detect carbon dioxide, the company developed a compact portable analyzer with a probe that can pierce the neoprene gaskets of intermodal containers.
  • A Human Detection System and Avian Heartbeat Detector that monitors acoustics is being tested in Seattle.

For more information on air cargo technology, check out “Drawing New Security Lines,” Air Cargo World Magazine. March 1, 2007. 


Compiled by Liying Gu (lgu@aci-na.org)
Director, Economic Affairs and Research
ACI-NA Center for Policy and Regulatory Affairs

 

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