Analytic hierarchy process approach for identifying relative importance of factors to improve passenger security checks at airports

Many failures concerned with detecting prohibited items from air passenger or carry on luggage have been reported from time to time even in advanced countries. The objective of this research is to study the relative importance of the means to improve passenger security checks at the airport. The authors recognize that there are three major factors affecting the effectiveness of passenger screening: human resources, equipment and facilities, and procedures and responsibility structures. The study utilized an AHP analysis on surveyed data about the relative importance of the factors and elements concerned with the improvement of passenger screening. The result of the analytic hierarchy process analysis showed that the most important factor that would need improvement to raise the performance of passenger screening would be human resources. This result is compatible with the globally accepted assertion held by others in the aviation world.