AIR FREIGHT EXECUTIVES WARNED TO GET SERIOUS ON SECURITY

AIR FREIGHT EXECUTIVES WARNED TO GET SERIOUS ON SECURITY    Air-cargo executives need to move beyond the Sept. 10th mentality — an era of naivete and blind trust — a risk consulting expert said at the sixth Air Cargo of the Americas conference in Miami Wednesday.
   “As we look at terrorism and how it affects us, I think that many of us have not grasped the severity of the issue,” said Thomas V. Cash, executive managing director of Kroll, a leading risk consulting company. “We are facing a revolution in our thinking as we go forward from that shocking day (Sept. 11).”
   Cash, a former journalist and Drug Enforcement Administration advisor who covered major international money laundering schemes, said that what’s needed now is strong commitment from governments and the air-cargo industry to ensure security. He also said the American air freight business must have the “mentality” that terrorist activities should not shut down the air cargo industry.
   Cash emphasized that the industry, however, will need to have a better idea of who is working in its facilities and at the airports. The industry has been plagued over the years by false identification and passports used by cargo handlers.
   “The threat is real,” Cash said. “These people are here because they want to kill you.”