Is undue emphasis being placed on air transport security, given the vulnerability of other modes of transportation?
Burns: Recent events have underscored that aviation is not the only target, and we see the government, at various levels, looking at a broad range of potential threats and targets, including but not limited to commercial aviation, which is the right approach. Where we become concerned is with proposals for sweeping and costly mandates. We sometimes see more of a tendency to take that approach with aviation than with other types of targets. Terrorism is a potential threat to the U.S. and its security as a nation, not to any specific industry or segment of the economy, and mitigation, mandates and their funding need to be approached from that standpoint. Avionics: How much financial support should come from federal sources? Burns: The threat of a MANPADS attack against commercial airliners is a national security issue rather than an industry safety or airworthiness question. Such an attack would be intended to damage the U.S. as a whole, not the airlines specifically, and would be conduc
