Civil Aviation Industry essay
Today the term “terrorism” describes the illegal and often inhuman actions that are intended to instill fear and uncertainty in people. The civil aviation industry is one of the fields that are seriously influenced by the fears of terrorism since 9/11. As a result, the issue of aviation safety and security is one of the most important social issues, which requires adequate solutions. It is necessary to understand what is at stake. The consequences of failing to assess, analyze and recognize the potential threats caused by terrorist attacks influence the development of the civil aviation industry. There is a necessity to identify and implement the proper strategies to minimize the risk. Focusing attention on aviation and airports, it is crucial to consider the functioning of the aviation industry, the important role of air transportation for effective passenger service and cargo transportation. In addition, it is necessary to address the hijacking threat and develop adequate response mechanisms. Undoubtedly, international cooperation is required to find sound solutions. The major goal of this paper is to discuss the effects of fears of terrorism on the development of air safety aviation industry since 9/11, paying due attention to the consequences of the aviation industry’s tendency to wait until there is a major accident before implementing safety and the analysis of the major strategies aimed at improving safety of aviation industry.
Introduction
Aviation industry is one of the largest sectors, which includes a large number of employees, airports and airplanes. These objects are vulnerable to terrorist attacks, including airport bombings, hijackings, and sabotage attacks by terrorists. The most destructive terrorist attack is the tragedy of 9/11. Actually, this event became “a cornerstone of today’s aviation security policies” (Yalcinkaya & Ozmen, 2007, p. 259). It has been found that the fears of terrorism contributed to air safety aviation industry since 9/11. Actually, there are both contributions and negative effects of terrorism attacks on the development of the air aviation industry. According to researchers, “security activities have increased enormously since 9/11”(Barnett, 2010, p. 341). However, there is still much to be done to improve safety of the aviation industry and the whole nation (Wilkinson & Jenkins, 2013). The fact that there is the aviation industry’s tendency to wait until there is a major accident before implementing safety means specific strategies should be directed toward the implementation of well-timed actions aimed improving safety. According to Johnathan Wolff (2006), the issue regarding risks imposed on each other is considered to be an issue of “fundamental moral importance” (409). Due to “quantified risk assessment,” including risk cost-benefit analysis, it is possible to provide the effective analysis of the air safety aviation industry. The proper techniques can be used to show that “existing resources could be used more effectively to reduce risk overall” (Wolff, 2006, p. 409). As a result, it is necessary to mention that some of the selected current practices aimed at improving safety of the aviation industry are irrational. On the other hand, “many critics of quantified risk assessment argue that it cannot adequately capture all relevant features, such as “societal concern” and so should be abandoned” (Wolff, 2006, p. 409). Thesis statement: The fears of terrorism continue to influence the development of air safety aviation industry since 9/11 because many considerable changes have been made to strengthen aviation security.
The major goal of this paper is to discuss the effects of fears of terrorism on the development of air safety aviation industry since 9/11, paying due attention to the consequences of the aviation industry’s tendency to wait until there is a major accident before implementing safety and the analysis of the major strategies aimed at improving safety of aviation industry.
The effects of fears of terrorism
on the development of air safety aviation industry since 9/11
The effects of fears of terrorism on the development of air safety aviation industry since 9/11 include both positive and negative effects. According to George Leloudas (2013), for air carriers, an important aspect of the effects of fears of terrorism includes not only physical and financial losses, but also “the intangible damage that the carrier’s reputation suffers after the incident and the public demands for more regulation of the aviation industry” (p. 23). The events of 9/11can be referred to the low-probability category of risk events with high level of magnitude. Actually, these terrorist attacks can be defined as social amplified events. The negative effects of fears of terrorism are concluded in the considerable decline of air travel. Undoubtedly, the decline in the use of services provided by the aviation industry led to greater automobile use. As a result, there was a considerable “increase in driving costs and deaths because flying was the safer means of transportation” (Leloudas, 2013, p. 24). As passenger loads fell considerable after the event 9/11, the civil aviation revenues were decreased. As a result, thousands of workers employed in the civil aviation industry lost their jobs (Wilkinson & Jenkins, 2013).
In addition, the fears of terrorism led to providing the aviation industry with escalating cost of a wide range of security measures, as a result of the US Congress implementation of specially developed laws, programs and policies, which guarantee a host of measures to achieve progress in developing more secure air travel system and restoring public trust and confidence in flying (Leloudas, 2013). The considerable changes in the functioning of the aviation industry are based on the Aviation and Transportation Security Act that was passed on November 19, 2001. According to this Act, a new federal agency was established to address the needs and requirements of the nation regarding the safety of the aviation industry services. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act provided massive changes in the functioning of the aviation industry. For example, the Act “mandates screening of all checked bags for bombs and explosives” (Leloudas, 2013). Besides, for the first time in the history of the aviation industry, it is required that all US airport security operations and practices be handled by well-trained federal employees. In addition, the Act called for the use of fortified cockpit doors, the installation of video monitors to alert pilots in the flight deck to activity in the cabin, the use of more sky marshals aboard planes, and providing mandatory training sessions for the members of flight crews regarding the ways to handle the uncontrolled situations, such as a hijacking. These measures proved to be effective. It has been found that positive changes were made in the functioning of the civil aviation industry. For example, aircrafts have become more reliable in usage and the weather forecasting practices have been improved (Oster et al., 2013). According to Johnathan Wolff (2006), “certainly anyone who have travelled by air lately, and seen what is being done in the name of reducing risks of terrorism may well have had the thought: obviously not much better than useless, but nevertheless somehow strangely reassuring, at list for some people” (p. 409).
Moreover, the impact of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and its after-effects on U.S. airline demand have been analyzed by researchers. They used the data taken from the period 1986 -2003 in order to find out that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 “resulted in both a negative transitory shock of over 30% and an ongoing negative demand shock amounting to roughly 7.4% of pre-September 11 demand” (Ito & Lee, 2005, p. 75). Actually, the ongoing negative demand shock has been reduced, although experts fail to give explanation to economic, financial, psychological, seasonal, or any other factors (Ito & Lee, 2005).
In general, the issue about aviation safety requires the proper analysis of the safety records of aviation both in the United States and abroad. It is very important to explore “aviation security as a growing dimension of aviation safety” (Oster et al., 2013). It is necessary to identify the major issues in airline safety and define certain challenges for continuation of aviation safety practices. According to researchers, “commercial airline safety has improved dramatically since the industry’s birth over a century ago” (Oster et al., 2013). The analysis of the fatal accident rates for aviation industry, especially for the large scheduled jet airlines shows that the level of incidents has been fallen. Thus, aviation is considered to be now the “safest mode of commercial transportation” (Oster et al., 2013, p.148).
Civil Aviation Industry essay part 2
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