Aviation safety took yet another major step forward in May 2008, as all cab drivers picking up passengers at Houston’s primary airports were required to present an authorized airport security badge.

The initiative involved cab drivers operating at both George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) and William P. Hobby (HOU) Airports, and represented yet another layer of security designed to keep employees and passengers safe.

“We wanted to be proactive about targeting any potential vulnerability we might have had at that point,” said Frank Haley, deputy director of public safety and information technology for the Houston Airport System. “Properly identifying independent contractors who provide transportation services for our passengers is a matter of customer service and safety.”

The new measure was an extension of the HAS existing badging policy, which requires all airport workers, including HAS employees, tenants and contractors to obtain and display valid identification badges while working in and around the airports’ perimeters.

Previous groups that have already been brought into the badging requirement policy include limousine drivers, SuperShuttle operators, various contractors and the 800-plus horseback-riding volunteers known as the “Airport Rangers.”

“Our approach to security has always been staying ahead of the pack, and incorporating a “high tech, high touch” approach to airport safety,” adds Haley.

In 2007, IAH was designated as the first Model Port in the nation by the Department of Homeland Security.

Under this designation, IAH has served as an example to the rest of the country’s airports on how to better serve the international community upon their arrival in to the United States.

“We have been the first to take on many new initiatives,” says Haley. “As a result, we’ve also been awarded the privilege of piloting new programs and technologies.”