Aviation Week Homeland Security Conference Highlights: Mineta Says Baggage Screening Deadline Will be Missed, Fast-Track Established for Key Aspects of Security System.

Business/Travel Editors

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 27, 2001

Ridge Pushes for More

Funds for First Responders, Standardized Training and Equipment;

Conference Webcast Available at www.AviationNow.com

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, speaking at Aviation Week's Homeland Security and Defense Conference, said the government is unlikely to meet a congressionally imposed deadline for screening all checked baggage for bombs.

Stating there are not enough employees, bomb-sniffing dogs or explosive-detecting machines to do that job, Mineta said security officials will try to screen as many bags as possible, including opening the luggage.

Mineta also said his agency, facing a myriad of deadlines in the next 12 months mandated by the recently passed Aviation Security Act, has set up "go teams" that will fast-track key aspects of the new aviation security system. The teams have been ordered to move from issue identification to resolution in 30 days or less.

The teams will keep tasks on track in several key areas, Mineta said, including ramping up bomb screening to include all checked luggage, implementing training programs for new screeners and law-enforcement officers, beefing up airport perimeter security, and fast-tracking background checks for the thousands of new screeners that will form the soon-to-be-federalized airport security workforce.

Speaking after Mineta, Northwest CEO Richard Anderson told attendees, "It will be imperative that the go-teams have representatives from key industry members, including airlines and airports. We need to participate in the process."

Later that day, Governor Tom Ridge, assistant to the president and director of the Office of Homeland Security, said shifting more funds to federal agencies and local "first responders" now facing extensive tasks in the war on terrorism tops the U.S. homeland security czar's list of priorities.

Front-line local responders -- fire fighters, emergency medical crews and police forces -- need an infusion of funds to buy standardized training and equipment.

"We wouldn't send soldiers into harm's way without the right training and equipment," Ridge said.

A maze of more than 40 agencies must be partly melded and consolidated, Ridge said, citing a proposal in Congress to unite the U.S Customs Service, Border Patrol and Coast Guard. "We need to fuse some of these agencies and move some of these lines around," Ridge said.

Additional news as well as he global webcast of Aviation Week's Homeland Security Conference is available AvWeek TV at Aviation Week's web portal, www.AviationNow.com.

In addition to hearing from keynote speakers, conference attendees also viewed a new, onboard surveillance technology. QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq:QCOM), successfully demonstrated a set of aviation safety solutions using the Globalstar(TM) Satellite Communications System and onboard hardware incorporating CDMA technology.

The flight demonstration showcased the MDSS installed and integrated on a Challenger 604 with a FAA Supplemental Type Certification (STC) pending. High-speed, bi-directional voice and data applications demonstrated included live video streaming from cabin and cockpit to ground, video of cabin in co-pilot display, position location of aircraft, real-time Doppler weather downloaded on co-pilot display, e-mail, instant messaging and voice calls.

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EDITORS NOTE: Aviation Week editors are available to brief media of the contents of the conference, as well as provide interviews on the homeland defense effort.