Fixing cargo security system would cost billions

LONDON — The glaring weakness of the cargo shipping system has been laid bare by the Yemen-based mail bomb plot — but the cost of fixing it may be too high for governments, airlines and shippers to stomach during a global downturn.

"In a worst case, it would stop world trade," said James Halstead, a longtime consultant with the Aviation Economics firm. "UPS and FedEx would probably go bust, we'd have a full disaster scenario. The cost of the extra effort involved in putting in security checks to find these sorts of bombs would be almost too much to consider."