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Cost-benefit analysis of airport security: Are airports too safe?

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  • Stewart, Mark G.
  • Mueller, John

Abstract

This paper assesses the risks and cost-effectiveness of measures designed to further protect airport terminals and associated facilities such as car parks from terrorist attack in the U.S., Europe, and the Asia-Pacific area. The analysis considers threat likelihood, the cost of security measures, hazard likelihood, risk reduction and expected losses to compare the costs and benefits of security measures to decide the optimal security measures to airports. Monte-Carlo simulation methods were used to propagate hazard likelihood, risk reduction and loss uncertainties in the calculation of net benefits that also allows probability of cost-effectiveness to be calculated. It is found that attack probabilities had to be much higher than currently observed to justify additional protective measures. Overall, then, it is questionable whether special efforts to further protect airports are sensible expenditures. Indeed, some relaxation of the measures already in place may well be justified.

Suggested Citation

  • Stewart, Mark G. & Mueller, John, 2014. "Cost-benefit analysis of airport security: Are airports too safe?," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 19-28.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:35:y:2014:i:c:p:19-28
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2013.11.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gkritza, Konstantina & Niemeier, Debbie & Mannering, Fred, 2006. "Airport security screening and changing passenger satisfaction: An exploratory assessment," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 213-219.
    2. Keefer,Philip & Loayza,Norman (ed.), 2008. "Terrorism, Economic Development, and Political Openness," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521887588, November.
    3. Holguín-Veras, José & Xu, Ning & Bhat, Chandra, 2012. "An assessment of the impacts of inspection times on the airline industry’s market share after September 11th," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 17-24.
    4. Robinson Lisa A & Hammitt James K. & Aldy Joseph E. & Krupnick Alan & Baxter Jennifer, 2010. "Valuing the Risk of Death from Terrorist Attacks," Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-27, February.
    5. Mark G. Stewart & John Mueller, 2013. "Aviation Security, Risk Assessment, and Risk Aversion for Public Decisionmaking," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 615-633, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Skorupski, Jacek & Uchroński, Piotr, 2017. "A fuzzy model for evaluating metal detection equipment at airport security screening checkpoints," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 39-48.
    2. Skorupski, Jacek & Uchroński, Piotr, 2020. "Multi-criteria group decision-making approach to the modernization of hold baggage security screening system at an airport," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    3. Grant, Matthew J. & Stewart, Mark G., 2017. "Modelling improvised explosive device attacks in the West – Assessing the hazard," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 345-354.
    4. Amorim da Cunha, Duarte & Macário, Rosário & Reis, Vasco, 2017. "Keeping cargo security costs down: A risk-based approach to air cargo airport security in small and medium airports," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 115-122.
    5. Huang, Chun-Nen & Liou, James J.H. & Lo, Huai-Wei & Chang, Fu-Jung, 2021. "Building an assessment model for measuring airport resilience," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Skorupski, Jacek & Uchroński, Piotr, 2018. "Evaluation of the effectiveness of an airport passenger and baggage security screening system," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 53-64.
    7. Yan, Xihong & Ren, Xiaorong & Nie, Xiaofeng, 2022. "A budget allocation model for domestic airport network protection," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    8. Knol, Arthur & Sharpanskykh, Alexei & Janssen, Stef, 2019. "Analyzing airport security checkpoint performance using cognitive agent models," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 39-50.
    9. Valentin Carlan & Christa Sys & Thierry Vanelslander, 2019. "Innovation in Road Freight Transport: Quantifying the Environmental Performance of Operational Cost-Reducing Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-26, April.
    10. Tom Pettinger, 2023. "Embodying the inquiry: Disaster, affectivity, and the localized politics of security," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 41(7), pages 1282-1300, November.

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