Why Join

Events
- Wright Dinner
- Luncheons
- Speeches
- Photos

Awards

Education

Board

Aviation Links

Archived Speeches

Remarks of Frederick W. Smith
Chairman, FedEx Express
September 9, 2001, Washington, DC
U.S. Commercial Aviation: A Big Industry with Bigger Challenges

On behalf of over 200,000 FedEx Corporation employees, thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. As Chairman of FedEx Express, our largest operating company and the world’s biggest all-cargo carrier and express company, I have a keen and abiding interest in commercial aviation and have now devoted over 30 years of my business career to this industry. 

I have been privileged to serve in a number of industry positions, including long service on both the U.S. Air Transport Association and International Air Transport Association boards, so I have closely watched not only our own air cargo and air express segments, but also the activities of our passenger carriers as well.

When I had to choose a topic for this talk, I selected one I thought was fitting for the times – “Commercial Aviation: A Big Industry with Bigger Challenges.” While I certainly never contemplated the tragic events of September 11, I don’t think I could have chosen a better topic, even in retrospect, although the challenges today are even greater than those I would have discussed prior to September 11th.

Regarding that tragedy, let me again express our deep condolences to all of those affected by this enormous tragedy. 

• It was truly one of the most evil acts in the history of humankind.
• Like similar events in history, it also brought out the best in people.
• The heroic actions of various people in New York and Washington have been well recorded and need no further amplification from me, other than to join in the praise of those known and unknown heroes of the various events – particularly those who were aboard United’s flight 93 that went down in Pennsylvania. But for their actions, we might have faced even graver consequences from these attacks.

I am particularly proud of the thousands of FedEx employees involved in moving supplies and equipment for the recovery operations. 

• We moved everything from heavy equipment in our freight company, medical equipment through both our FedEx Express and FedEx Ground networks, and even protective dog booties for the search dogs through our FedEx Custom Critical unit.

Subsequent to September 11 and the unprecedented damage done to our aviation industry, the President and key members of his administration and the Congressional leadership responded magnificently to the crisis by passing appropriate and much-needed relief for the air carrier industry.

As noted before, tragedy often brings out the best in people, and that was the case here in Washington, D.C. last week.

It was very gratifying to me to see our industry under the leadership of our Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett, galvanize the public and various officials to recognize how critical the need for support of our industry really was.

We have known since the Battle of Okinawa in World War II that the airplane is a horrific weapon of war when used as a flying bomb piloted by suicide pilots. More U.S. Navy personnel lost their lives as a result of the kamikaze attacks in Okinawa than in all the rest of World War II engagements combined.

To see examples of our wonderful modern aircraft that provide such useful transportation services for our modern world used in a similar way was sickening to me. After revulsion, the next emotion I experienced was anger, and I do not believe anyone could have summed up our national feelings and resolve better than President Bush did in his speech to Congress last Thursday night.

Perhaps the only useful thing that came out of the September 11th attacks was the greatly increased understanding of the importance of modern commercial aviation to the economy of the United States and the world.

As was noted in many press reports, the aviation industry directly and indirectly accounts for over 10% of the entire GDP. 

• Our passenger carriers move over 650 million people per year.
• Millions of daily air shipments keep our high-tech and high-value production lines humming. They move critically needed emergency parts, vital medicines, hospital supplies as well as innumerable high-value products.

Air cargo transportation has become exceedingly important to America’s global trade, now moving in both freighters and combination aircraft more than 40% of the value of all such trade. 

• When agricultural and petroleum products are excluded as they are moved exclusively on ships, air commerce now accounts for the majority of all intercontinental trade shipped around the world.

In fact, after September 11th, FedEx became almost a “poster child” of the modern economy as large pictures of our grounded fleet graced the pages of our national newspapers.

Not only did the aviation industry suffer as a result of the necessary air transportation shutdown, many other industries related to air transportation systems such as hotels, travel agents, distribution companies, forwarding companies, and so forth were also dramatically affected.

As I mentioned at the onset, having selected the topic of this speech some weeks ago, I had no idea of how true that title would be after September 11th. 

• These attacks will have enormous lingering effects on the aviation industry in many ways. 
• The most visible and perhaps the most important, of course, will be the public’s fear of resuming their normal high use of our air transportation system. 
• This lost revenue will overshadow even the substantial direct cost of the shutdown, which will be addressed to some degree by the legislation passed last week.

As has been often noted since the 11th, things are unlikely to ever be the same again, particularly in our industry. 

• Prior to September 11th, the major threat to our air carrier industry was the potential of hijackings and sabotage. 
• Now, to that we can add the third dimension of the potential use of our aircraft as military missiles.

Addressing these security needs will overshadow, in the immediate future, other major industry considerations that were so prevalent immediately before the attacks. 

• In fact, my original speech was to address the need for additional ATC and airport capacity, the need for the U.S. Government to continue to push for open skies agreements, particularly in the all-cargo sector, and the urgent requirement to establish a new labor management negotiation framework to stabilize a badly out-of-balance situation that imperiled the survival of our air transport industry even before September 11th, in my opinion. 
• But these are topics which are now best left to another day, even though we continue to support the initiatives in all three of these areas as before and hope that as the situation calms in the months to come, they will again be forcefully re-addressed.

Today, however, I would like to give you our prescription for an improved aviation security environment that will allow commercial aviation to resume its vital role in the national and global economies.

To these ends, I would suggest that there are 10 definitive steps that should be taken as soon as practical to ensure the safety of our skies and the general public.

First, we can no longer debate the requirement for a positive control ATC system. 

• The lack of clear information available to the controllers after the hijacking compounded the difficult issues they faced. 
• Moreover, with the prospect of aircraft being used as guided missiles, it will be imperative that all aircraft using our airspace be positively identified. 
• With the possible exception of ultralight aircraft, we would recommend the federal government require all aircraft that fly to be equipped with a primary and secondary transponder. 
• The latter of these transponders must be incapable of being cut off from the cockpit and must broadcast aircraft identification information intermittently during normal use and continuously if the primary transponder is turned off. 
• We should move deliberately towards adopting ADSB technology that provides real-time position reporting for all aircraft in the sky.

Second, we should establish, through legislation, a new National Aviation Security Service which oversees all airport and aircraft security issues. 

• I personally would favor combining this National Aviation Security Service along with the Border Patrol, the Coast Guard, the DEA, and FEMA as component parts of the new Homeland Security Department as announced by President Bush last week to be headed up by Governor Ridge. 
• I believe that the National Aviation Security Service should contract for appropriate screening of passengers and bags and cargo, and interface with the FAA to insure appropriate management of our air space.

Third, the National Aviation Security Service should provide armed, on-board security officers that travel throughout the U.S. commercial airline system, thereby always providing a potential threat to any hijacker. 

• Such security officers should also oversee the security plans that govern access to our airports and various other preventive means of deterring air piracy.

Fourth, air transport cockpit doors should be hardened, access to the cockpit should be limited, and appropriate procedures and equipment prescribed for the protection of our aircrews.

Fifth, new criteria must be established for providing background checks for all personnel that work in the air transport industry and who have access to commercial aircraft.

Sixth, the National Aviation Security Service should oversee the adoption of improved baggage screening and x-ray of baggage as well as new profiling and visual video recognition capabilities to protect our aircraft. 

• I personally would recommend a restriction of carry-on items to handbags, briefcases and coats thereby significantly diminishing the job of reviewing materials in the cabin. 
• I further believe that there should be a magnetometer at each gate as well as in the restricted concourse to provide a tertiary checkpoint prior to boarding the aircraft. 
• Perhaps at this same point at the gate, video recognition capabilities could also be used to scan boarding passengers against a threat database maintained by the National Aviation Security Service.

Seventh, cargo allowed on passenger aircraft should come from only known shippers and forwarders or their agents. All of these must have an approved security program that has been certified by the National Aviation Security Service.

Eighth, there must be dramatic improvements in the security of all airport operating areas with stringent controls on access to the areas where commercial aircraft are located, and systemic security procedures for all equipment and supplies moving into these areas.

Ninth, we urge sharply increased control of aircraft which use the airspace around our major population centers, particularly Washington and New York. 

• With a new positive control environment and the procedures I mentioned for commercial aircraft, the potential use of transports for terrorist attacks is substantially minimized.

Last of all, general and corporate aviation aircraft wishing to use close-in airport facilities in our major markets must have an improved security program as certified by the National Aviation Security Service.

• These programs should be cross-referenced to the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System when flights plans are approved. 
• Naturally, all such flying in these areas should be done under instrument flight rules.

While these 10 steps are certainly bad news compared to the situation that existed before September 11th, I think the good news is that all 10 of these steps are manageable and would collectively create a vastly improved security environment for the three major threats of hijacking, sabotage, and use of aircraft as missiles. 

• Yes, there will certainly be increased expense in various sectors of the aviation industry, but I think everyone can agree that quick action is now a national imperative, given what we have experienced.
• Perhaps most importantly, the speedy adoption and execution of such an agenda would be an important element in restoring the confidence of the traveling public. In the end, that confidence is the most important factor in restoring the economic health of the air transport industry and letting that great industry resume its important role in our modern life.

I am by nature an optimist. I think that the story of all great peoples is that adversity creates opportunity and strengthens those societies that can meet new challenges. Over these many years in the aviation industry, I personally have never seen a time when everyone involved in commercial aviation was more determined to work together to resolve these issues.

I believe that our resolve and new-found cooperation can be extended not only to the current emergency situation but to other issues as well, and that our resolve will provide the base for a new era of growth and success for U.S. commercial aviation in the years to come.

I can assure you that we at FedEx are absolutely committed to doing what it takes to achieve these important goals.

Thank you.