SUSPECT SEARCH WHEN TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE SAVING TIME AND MONEY IN THE AIRPORT INDUSTRY

Transcription

1 APPLICATION WHITE PAPER NOTE SUSPECT SEARCH WHEN TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE SAVING TIME AND MONEY IN THE AIRPORT INDUSTRY

2 WHITE PAPER Why is Time of the Essence for Airports? According to the ACI Economics Survey 2012 (AES 2012), the total airport worldwide income in FY 2011/12 reached USD billion, with aeronautical revenues of USD 60.9 billion, representing 56.3% of the total 1. With aeronautical revenues increasing by 11% and expected to continue to grow, it is only right for airports to concentrate their efforts in increasing airline satisfaction. With over 25% of departures from the top 30 airports worldwide being delayed 2, and each minute of delayed aircraft costing airlines 3 an average of USD 101 4, the importance of minimizing delay times and optimizing airport operations is clear. The US Perspective In 2010 the FAA sponsored a study titled A Comprehensive Assessment of the Costs and Impacts of Flight Delay in the United States 5. In this report the direct cost of air transportation delay in United States during the 2007 calendar year was estimated at USD 32 billion, as can be seen in the table below. Cost Component Cost (USD billions) Cost to Airlines 8.3 Cost to Passengers 16.7 Cost from Lost Demand 3.9 Total Direct Cost 28.9 Impact on GDP 4 Total Cost 32.9 Figure 1: Direct cost of air transportation delay The cost analysis estimates that USD 8.3 billion of airline cost consists of increased expenses for crew, fuel and maintenance. And USD 3.9 billion comes from lost demand; this is an estimate of the welfare loss incurred by passengers who avoid air travel as a result of delays. Finally, the report estimates that air transportation delays reduced the 2007 US GDP by USD 4 billion, claiming that inefficiency in the air Based on the recent study European Airline Delay Cost Reference Values issued by the University of Westminster 4 Throughout this document the considered EUR to USD conversion rate is

3 transportation sector increases the cost of doing business for other sectors, making the associated businesses less productive. The EU Perspective The European perspective can be best explained by looking at its busiest airport in terms of total passenger traffic for the year 2012, as presented in the AES 2012, London Heathrow (BAA). Average departure delay per flight: 14.8 minutes. Based on the European Commission annual analysis using data provided by airlines to the EUROCONTROL CODA database 6. Average cost of delayed aircraft per minute: USD Based on BAA s own analysis 8. Annual number of takeoffs and landings a year (2013): 475,000. Based on BAA s website 9. A simple calculation reveals that flights operated at Heathrow airport incur losses of USD million annually due to delays. A more careful inspection, using a delay root cause analysis conducted by AEA, is shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 shows that only 11% of the delays are caused by Airport Authorities, hence the estimated annual losses due to BAA delays is USD 48.8 million. In the following sections we will examine some of the typical use cases that airports encounter and how they can be managed more efficiently using a Qognify innovative solution. The enormous impact that flight delays can have on airlines, passengers, the aviation industry, and on the GDP creates a strong incentive for airports to improve productivity and minimize delays. Figure 2: Delay causes in Europe (2004) 6 Annual Analyses of the EU Air Transport Market 2010, Executive Summary 7 Throughout this document the considered GBP to USD conversion rate is

4 Causes of Flight Delays Passengers Late Arrival to Departure Gate People who fail to turn up for flights cost airlines dearly, especially if their luggage has to be removed from the plane. Offloading luggage as a result of a failure to arrive can cause planes to lose their takeoff slots, leading to delays which, according to industry estimates covered above, cost USD 105 for each minute the plane is on the tarmac or stuck on the stand. Once a slot is lost, the aircraft has to go to the back of a queue, resulting in a 20-minute delay, which is not uncommon. According to Heathrow Airport s own calculations, late-running passengers are responsible for 50,000 minutes of delays annually, at a cost of USD 5.5 million. In July 2013, Heathrow Airport rolled out a smart boarding card system that allowed airline officials to know the exact time each passenger entered the departure lounge. Taking this a step further, if a camera were to capture passengers at every scanning post, an image of each passenger could be correlated to their boarding pass. The combination of this solution and Qognify s Suspect Search would help to quickly identify the whereabouts of passengers who entered the lounge, but failed to arrive to the gate on time. The images of those missing passengers could be used to initiate a search across the terminal, with the passenger s current location being pinpointed in several minutes. Unauthorized Access to Restricted Areas In early January 2010, an unknown man strolled past a guard at a security checkpoint at Newark Liberty International Airport 10. Although a passerby reported the incident as it happened he could not give a clear description of the event. Airport officials were forced to review hours of tape to determine if a breach occurred and, when this was confirmed, a six hour terminal shutdown ensued. The man, who was inside the restricted area for only 25 minutes, was no longer there. Further enhancing the challenge airport security faces in these situations is the fact that according to the United States National Institute of Justice (NIJ), individuals asked to monitor multiple video monitors at a time cannot

5 support an effective security system 11. According to the NIJ s research, after 20 minutes of watching and evaluating the screens, the individual s attention degenerates well below acceptable levels. Unauthorized access to sensitive areas/facilities like the one described above are a significant security breach. From the moment the breach is detected to the time in which the offender is apprehended or determined no longer a danger, airport operation becomes impaired. The benefits of Suspect Search in these scenarios are twofold. First, as seen in Figure 3, reviewing hours of video is no longer necessary. From the moment airport officials have an image of the unauthorized intruder they can search all relevant cameras and receive a presorted display of results; making it easier to sort through the hundreds of people that appear in the footage. Figure 3: Search results display Additionally, as seen in Figure 4, with the use of Suspect Search, the security team responsible for aviation security can find the location of the offender within minutes and guide field personnel to him

6 Figure 4: Suspect s trail recreated on the airport s map In the case above, where the perpetrator was no longer on premise, the exact places where he had been during his time in the terminal could have been determined. This knowledge could have possibly affected the decision to evacuate the terminal, saving airport authorities the cost of close to USD 33, per minute during the evacuation. The Hidden Cost of Failed Asylum Applicants Experience shows that many travelers make claim for refugee protection on arrival at their intended destination. In many cases, the individuals concerned could have pursued the option of claiming asylum in the state of embarkation. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 13 such an irregular migration erodes the integrity of refugee determination systems, ultimately penalizing the legitimate refugees. The main factors that slow down the removal process are delays and difficulty in obtaining travel documents. As an example, in the case of failed asylum applicants who entered England clandestinely and do not have passports or any other identity papers, the Directorate s Documentation Unit must establish their nationality and obtain emergency travel documents from the relevant embassy. The United Kingdom s National Audit Office ((NAO) has reported in the past that this process takes an average of 7 days 14. The following figures provided by the NAO help to understand the magnitude of the problem: Detaining failed asylum applicants before their departure costs an average of: USD 9,091 for every removal

7 Number of failed asylum applicants returning to their country of origin or to safe third countries ( ): 14,075 Given the above figures it is easy to see how Her Majesty s Prison Service had to incur the following expenses ( ): Immigration enforcement, including the removal of failed asylum applicants: USD million Supporting failed asylum applicants awaiting removal from the UK: USD million The head of the NAO summed it up well The integrity of the asylum system depends in part on returning failed applicants to their home country in a timely fashion 15. Within minutes, Suspect Search can locate the arrival gate of any passenger that arrives at a border control checkpoint without their passport/documents, and also track where they have been during their time in the airport. Identifying the failed applicants port of origin within a few minutes can dramatically reduce the seven days overhead associated with establishing their nationality, and accelerate their return to their home countries in a timely fashion, considerably reducing costs. Shutdowns Derived from Suspicious Items Suspicious items, such as unattended luggage, are one of the counter terrorism activities known to plague airport operations. It is not uncommon for airports to evacuate complete terminals following the finding of suspicious items. This is exemplified by incidents at Luton Airport and O'Hare International Airport 16, in August and September 2014 respectively. Terminal disruptions like these, which create security and safety concerns for passengers and workers alike, not only affect the main air traffic business but also the airports second biggest revenue stream, retail concessions, which according to the AES 2012 accounted for USD 6 billion 17. With Suspect Search tracking the current location of the passenger who left the luggage behind within minutes is possible. Even if airport security does not have an exact description, with just an eye-witness s description, the 15 Sir John Bourn, 19 July

8 security team can create an avatar of the baggage s owner. This can be seen in Figure 4, allowing security to start searching the terminal for the passenger. This enables law enforcement agencies to handle the situation quickly, minimizing disturbance to airport operations. Figure 5: Suspect Search s avatar creation tool Suspect Search Minimizing Airport Video Search Related Impact Suspect Search is a patent-pending video analytics technology that efficiently helps to locate and track a specific person when time is of the essence. It reduces search time from hours to minutes and enables the user to track a target individual s movements from location to location and access all relevant associated recording. With Suspect Search instead of watching hours of video, airport security can search for their target in an image album that is presorted, with the top-ranked matches presented first. Searching for a target is effortless since airport authorities can select a reference target by retrieving their image from the video recordings, uploading it as a picture, or creating it with the built-in avatar creation tool. Unlike any other solution in the market, Suspect Search creates a database of all the people who have been caught on camera in real time with each person being tagged according to their appearance as well as the color of their 8

9 clothes and its texture. This process enables the solution to present, as seen in Figure 3, presorted possible matches only a few seconds after the search is initiated. The operator can then screen the results to see if the target appears in any given one and, with one click, view the related video footage for confirmation. As a result, precious time is saved when searching for a specific person during both near-real time and offline scenarios. In order to streamline airport security personnel s situational management capabilities, all selected images are automatically located on a map allowing the operator to view the reconstructed route of the target and direct field personnel to their current or latest known location. Finally the entire incident s data video, images and maps can be exported and shared with internal or external stakeholders, during the incident or once it is resolved. When searching for an intruder across a terminal, this information can improve field officers ability to recognize them and with all data being digitally stamped, airport officials can use it to present a court admissible incident case. For a more in depth description of Suspect Search please refer to the Technical Overview document. Summary Suspect Search for Airports Airports use surveillance cameras extensively to monitor terminals, check-in counters, land side and other airport facilities. In a medium-size airport, deployed cameras could number in the thousands. Identifying the location of a passenger with today s video surveillance system requires a few hours at best. These hours render today s system as impractical for the use cases described above, where a decision needs to be made in minutes in order to effectively mitigate an incident. Suspect Search provides situational awareness with location-based map results. Instead of watching hours of video, operators look for a target in an image album that is presorted, with the top-ranked matches presented first. It uses state-of-the-art analytics and video recording technologies to enable airport authorities to locate a passenger or suspect in real time, or quickly understand what happened during investigations. The application s capabilities improve overall security, Not only by dramatically improving security responders actions and results in critical situations, but also by enabling key cost and resource savings, and the quicker restoration of normal operations while guaranteeing a significantly better ROI to the complete video surveillance install base. 9

10 ABOUT QOGNIFY Qognify helps organizations capture, analyze and leverage big data to anticipate and manage security and safety risks, maintain business and streamline in Touch: CONTACTS Qognify Limited and its ( Qognify ) have all rights in and to the contents of this document Qognify Limited. All rights reserved. For the full list of Qognify s trademarks, visit All other 10 marks used are the property of their respective proprietors. AN-83 v01 02/2016