I’m afraid BusAirDriver is clearly not familiar with what is allowed (SOP’s are not relevant) in most European airlines. I’ll not mention the airlines or countries concerned but it is important to understand that rules restricting access are set nationally. Airlines themselves can be more restrictive but generally choose not to be. But rather unusually in today’s climate, most European airlines delegate the final access decisions to the crew on the day provided they comply with company policy as described in their Part A’s.
With regard to reporting I don’t care. I’m paid to follow the rules, no matter how absurd or irrelevant. I also try to create an environment in which any member of the crew can tell me if I’m doing something wrong. With this in mind I’ll get really upset if a muppet attempts to dob me after the event when they could and should have told me on the day. Fortunately my colleagues, almost to a person, agree with this way of doing business. Also, busting SOP’s is relatively small beer. The big “crimes” are busting the black letter rules in the Operations Manuals, mainly Part A, without good reason.
I’m also sceptical about references to the Russian Airbus, this I think was a one-off. The most dangerous people are the pilots. Besides, we are not talking about letting passengers fly, we are talking letting guests sit on the cockpit jumpseat/s. And while we are here, let’s think about the rogue elements amongst the flight crew. Having another person in the flight deck makes it less likely for one of the crew to do something unpleasant if for no other reason than the odds are less favourable. So let’s have some worthwhile facts please.
Lastly, if you did make it through security with prohibited items this should have been reported. If you think that we should stick to the UK’s ridiculous rules you should be helping the system by pointing out their oversights.
PM