Stop Relying on Luck: Real-Time Solutions for Airside Security

We All Saw This Coming

We’ve all been waiting for something like this to make headlines. This is exactly the kind of scenario industry professionals have feared for years—and many have already experienced close calls just like it. I wrote about this exact scenario back in February: “At one major U.S. airport, a delivery truck driver separated from their escort and drove down an active runway.” That wasn’t speculation—it was documentation of what we already know is happening at airports across the country.

But here’s what should terrify every airport executive: O’Hare was lucky.

Ten minutes where he could have been smoking and flicked a cigarette near a fuel truck that was gassing up a plane. Ten minutes where he could have panicked when he realized he was lost and accelerated into moving ground equipment. Ten minutes where he could have continued driving around the tarmac, looking for his delivery location while aircraft were pushing back from gates.

The only reason we’re talking about this as a “security breach” instead of a “catastrophic accident with multiple fatalities and millions of dollars in damage” is because O’Hare’s luck held. And, let’s be honest, the only difference between O’Hare and other airports around the country is that O’Hare’s breach got caught on camera.

What We’re All Dealing With

Almost every major airport faces the same operational challenges that created O’Hare’s public relations nightmare – or lucky day, depending on how you look at it.

The Uncomfortable Truth

So let’s talk about what’s really happening at airports across the country. How many incidents like this occur that don’t make the news? How many times has someone wandered into a restricted area for five minutes before being redirected? How many close calls get handled quietly by operations teams and never reported beyond internal incident logs?

And how many airports have operations centers gotten radio calls about “some lost delivery guy on the ramp” and quietly dispatched someone to escort him out? How many contractors have taken shortcuts through restricted areas because they were running late?

Airport boards across the country are asking serious questions right now. How confident can any airport be that it won’t be the next one making headlines? And more importantly, how confident can airport leaders be that when a Door Dash type of scenario happens at their airport, they’ll be as lucky as O’Hare?

Here’s What We Can Actually Do About It

The good news is that airports don’t have to accept these vulnerabilities as inevitable. When the DoorDash driver entered O’Hare, imagine if he’d been handed a location tracker. The moment he deviated from his authorized zone, operations would have received instant alerts. The driver would have gotten immediate haptic feedback—vibration and flashing lights—warning him he was entering a restricted area. Security would have known his exact location in real-time.

Those ten minutes of wandering around the ramp? They become ten seconds of a rapid, automated response.

This isn’t theoretical. Volan Technology has already piloted this technology at a major U.S. airport. Now, when delivery drivers or construction workers move outside authorized areas, multiple team members get immediate notifications, while workers receive clear physical warnings. The system was set up in a single day without requiring any changes to the existing IT, and it integrated seamlessly with existing security protocols. The results were so compelling that the airport is moving forward with full implementation.

Don’t Bet on Being Lucky

My team and I have been working with airports on these exact contractor monitoring challenges. The technology exists, the solutions work, and implementation is straightforward. If you want to discuss how to prevent your facility’s O’Hare moment, let’s talk.

Because luck isn’t a strategy.

To learn more about our Volan technology, please contact us.