Montreal, 29 June 2023 – Airports Council International (ACI) World, ACI North America (NA) and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further enhance the development of secure and efficient aviation security operations globally.
The MoU seeks to formalize multiple workstreams and ensure the continued collaboration on and promotion of global aviation security projects of common interest for the benefit of travellers worldwide.
These workstreams include:
- Mutually identifying airports and to provide assistance to enhance security through the ACI Airport Excellence (APEX) in Security program and ACI World Smart Security program.
- Collaborating on innovation programs such as ACI World’s global first, AirportShare project, launching live wait times data from multiple airports for passengers and other internal and external data consumers through a standard feed.
- Exploring and supporting the One-Stop Security Program between select international and U.S. city pairs. This program seeks to increase security effectiveness, efficiency and the customer experience by eliminating redundant security screening.
“ACI and TSA have a long-established partnership to enhance security across the world’s airports. In addition, TSA serves as the Vice-Chair of the Smart Security Management Group, led by ACI World to improve security, operational efficiency, and the passenger experience at security checkpoints across the world’s airports, focusing on innovation. We are pleased to formalize our relationship to further advance aviation security operations globally as we collectively keep up with growing air travel demand. TSA continues to be an avid supporter in ACI World’s vision and goals,” said ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira.
ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke said, “Collaboration is essential in support of our shared mission to provide for the safety and security of the traveling public and aviation workers. With our new MoU among our partners at TSA and ACI World, we are further strengthening our efforts to enhance aviation security while advancing innovation and the use of technology to improve the passenger experience through data sharing.”
“Through this partnership and collaboration, we are taking collective steps that enhance the security baseline in aviation, while making significant strides toward achieving greater security efficiency and effectiveness, in addition to better passenger experiences throughout the global transportation system,” said TSA Administrator David P. Pekoske.
The MoU was signed at the ACI EUROPE / ACI WORLD Annual General Assembly, Conference, and Exhibition, in Barcelona, Spain that has welcomed over 800 delegates of the aviation community.
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About ACI World
Airports Council International (ACI) World is the voice of the world’s airports. ACI World fosters cooperation among ACI member airports and other partners in world aviation, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Air Transport Association, and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization.
ACI World is part of ACI, a federated organization. In representing the best interests of airports during key phases of policy development, ACI makes a significant contribution toward ensuring a global air transport system that is safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally sustainable. As of January 2023, ACI serves 712 members, operating 1925 airports in 171 countries.
About ACI-NA
Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) represents local, regional, and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Approximately 380 aviation-related businesses are also members of ACI-NA, providing goods and services to airports. Collectively, U.S. airports employ more than 1.3 million people and account for $1.2 trillion in economic activity – or seven percent of the total U.S. workforce and eight percent of GDP. Canadian airports support 405,000 jobs and contribute C$35 billion to Canada’s GDP. Learn more at www.airportscouncil.org.
About TSA
The Transportation Security Administration was created to strengthen the security of the United States’ transportation systems and ensure the freedom of movement for people and commerce. TSA uses an intelligence-based approach and works closely with transportation, law enforcement and intelligence communities to set the standard for excellence in transportation security. For more information about TSA, please visit tsa.gov.
