Business jet on the ramp at a snowy airport, behind a security fence but clearly visible

Dec. 19, 2024

As recent news headlines have brought into sharp focus the matter of security for key employees, an NBAA News Hour webinar held Dec. 18 examined how business aviation flight operations can bolster efforts to not only keep their passengers safe while flying, but also at their destinations.

“Recent events abroad as well as within the U.S. really do warrant close study,” said Matt Burdette, country manager and vice president of business development for ASA Security Services. “There needs to be the point where you pull out the [security] folders from your file cabinet, shake them upside down and look at them carefully.”

Panel moderator Laura Everington, NBAA director of flight operations and regulations, noted that often, “One of the main weak points in a company’s security program is the communication and coordination between the flight department and the organization’s security team.”

“Once you make that bridge, you’ve helped to solidify communication,” added Kris Cannon, founder and president of Aviation Secure. “Sometimes when a flight department’s planning a trip, corporate security is on the other side planning all the movements. We want to connect those two and make that one solid line.”

However, even a robust security plan can be undone by carelessness. Eric Moilanen, founder of Premier Corporate Security, cautioned flight crews to be mindful of what they share when off-duty.

“This isn’t a vacation we’re on,” Cannon added. “When we fly that airplane, we are, in essence, [the CEO’s] executive protection. We need to figure out how to get them to the airplane, on the airplane and get out of there safely.”

Risks are also not limited to potential physical attacks. Flight departments must also consider structural, financial and cyber threats.

“You can’t fix the vulnerabilities if you don’t know what they are,” said Daniel Foust, president and founder of Corporate Aviation Security International. “Find out what your vulnerabilities are before the enemy does. And don’t think that they’re not trying to find them right now.”

All participants cautioned that business aviation stakeholders must be particularly careful in what is an uncertain, and potentially threatening, environment.

“We’re not trying to get into paranoia,” Burdette added, “but there are people who are going to see recent events as examples of what to do to reach their goal.”