The Long Road To TSA Certification

Nov 1, 2002 12:00 PM, Paul Rothman

It may seem at first glance that the federal government is committed to use only a few supplier companies for explosives detection, but a closer look reveals a wide-open market for companies willing to undergo an extensive certification process.

Currently, there are only two supplier companies that offer explosives detection systems certified by the federal government — InVision Technologies Inc., Newark, Calif., and L-3 Communications, New York. Other companies, however, are looking to enter into the aviation security arena.

“The TSA is smart but it's under lot of pressure,” says Lewis Iadarola, product manager for Hitachi. Iadarola says there is plenty of room in the airport security market — including explosives detection systems, trace detection, X-ray machines and metal detectors — for interested companies.

Hitachi is in the midst of certification for its trace detection systems. The company is required to conduct a pre-test in which 4,000 bags in an airport are checked using the new system. The system then moves to a TSA lab in Atlantic City, N.J., before it goes back to the airport for an official certification test. From there, the Security Technology Deployment Office (STDO), an arm of the TSA, decides what and how much to buy. “It's a several-month process,” Iadarola says.

So far, three companies — Ion Track Instruments, Barringer Technologies and Thermo Detection — are certified for explosives trace detection. Rapiscan, PerkinElmer and Heimann Systems are certified to supply Threat Image Projection X-ray devices.

“Essentially, the TSA has become a world authority on airport security, so they have to be open to companies all over the world,” Iadarola says.

But is the market really that big?

The necessary equipment has already been deployed at 90 percent of U.S. airports, but the remaining 10 percent are the biggest airports in the country.

“That's 10 percent of the airports, but it's upwards of 75 percent of the baggage and people that move through the U.S.,” Iadarola says. “[After the deadlines pass], we know they won't make a rash decision and overbuy new equipment. They are going to need far more than what they estimate.”

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