I think we have to look back into the history. Most of the happenings in the North American market for commercial aviation security are a result of the 9/11 era.
Prior to 9/11 in North America, commercial aviation security was perceived as having one of the lower levels of risk and, therefore, being at a lower level for requirements to comply with, due to the fact that the local threat was perceived as lower than it actually was. Then came the events of 9/11. As an outcome of such a surprise, there is also a reaction of paranoia and chaos.
Ten years later, I believe that TSA and CATSA--CATSA more quickly than TSA because of its size--have succeeded in presenting the new generation that can adapt to the new threat situation that was presented in 9/11: to harmonize procedures according to the then existing risk situation and to present a higher level of security services than there was before.
We passed through a similar situation in Europe, 20 years ago, and it was not because we were smarter or faster in Europe. It's because 20 years ago the Iron Curtain was raised and it was the job of the regulators to see where the borders were and where the risks were. Having moved to the east...there was a vacuum that was created and a need for a commercial solution in aviation security in mainland Europe. We started in the process a bit earlier due to a political situation.
That's why one might assume that processes, changes, and discussions like this have taken place in Europe a bit earlier. I think a step in the maturity of the process is a meeting or a study like you are conducting right now, to say okay, we're now 10 years down the line, so what did we achieve, what did we pay, what did we get, what is the level of service, what is the level of the security that we are producing, and is it up to the expectations of the public?
Having said that as a remark, I believe that in Europe we started earlier with the perception that what 3 billion people buy annually--a flight ticket--is a service and we're service suppliers. The perception of aviation security in North America is still as an obstacle and not as a service. This is still a challenge to be met. You have a wonderful infrastructure. You have wonderful terminals. You have wonderful locations. But passengers, as they enter the terminal, still don't perceive it as accepting a service. Sometimes they do, but they perceive it as a burden.
As an example, I was at a meeting two months ago in Washington, in which John Pistole, the head of the TSA, was very proud to announce that during Thanksgiving, which is one of the holidays when there is increased traffic, only in 10 of the major airports did the waiting lines exceed 30 minutes. If you go to a restaurant and you wait 30 minutes for the waiter to come to you, you don't perceive it as a good service. The fact that he has already started to measure, and the fact that we are discussing those issues here, is a step in the right direction. Thirty minutes is by no means acceptable if you want to sell a service in order to improve it....
In comparing Europe and North America, the process in Europe in commercializing the service started earlier and therefore Europe is a little bit ahead.