Airport Staff Access Control: Biometrics at last?

Airport security has always been challenging. But with the tragic events of September 11th 2001, security was significantly increased at US airports and other airports worldwide. Since then there has been a progressive increase in security requirements to meet new threats. Most of the new security requirements have been in the passenger processing areas. But there is another side of airport security, often not addressed in news reports, namely measures to control staff access to secure areas of each airport. Staff access control at airports within the US has also seen significant changes over the years, with the introduction of more secure credentials, and more thorough background checking, using conventional biometrics such as fingerprints for comparison against government databases. But surprisingly, the use of biometrics to verify identity as an operational access control identification factor used each time an airport staff member processes through an access control portal to a secure or restricted area has not yet been extensively deployed at airports within the USA. This is in a marked contrast to the progressive deployment of biometrics for passenger identification at airports worldwide. However, a number of major US airports are now in the process of deploying biometrics as an additional access control factor and it is possible that a "Tipping point" in the deployment of biometrics at airports within the USA has been reached. This paper evaluates why US airports have previously been slow to adopt biometrics for access control despite the steady improvements in technology and public acceptance of biometrics, examines the operational and cost factors causing a resurgence in interest in biometrics, and reviews the progress of current airport implementations. Finally it reviews the various alternative biometric modalities against the operational requirements of airport staff access control, and predicts future technology trends for staff access control at airports.