The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) today has praised the Canadian government plan to boost spending on airport screening in its proposed 2019 budget.
Although the exact financial commitment is not known, the government has indicated it is committed to fundamentally changing how the Canadian Air Transport Security Administration (CATSA) is funded on an ongoing basis, as well as shift CATSA to a non-for-profit independent entity.
“Canada’s airports have long called for structural reforms to normalize CATSA’s funding structure, to ensure the organization is better able to plan long term and serve the needs of travelers well into the future,” says CAC President Daniel Robert-Gooch in a statement. “As is so often the case, there are many details to be worked out to ensure the transition to a new model is successful, and improves service to travelers while maintaining the high security standard we have today.”
The CAC has sought a new service standard that would ensure 95 percent of travelers originating at one of the country’s eight largest airports are screened in less than 10 minutes, even quicker screening for connecting passengers and that no traveler have a screening process longer than 20 minutes.
