Once again, I reiterate... this thread is about how this all affects us as aircrew. We already know about the effects on passengers and there is no need to discuss that on this thread. If you do then you will be wasting your time as the posts will be deleted and/or moved to similar threads that do relate the effect on pax.
The one argument I would like to see discussed further is that of how this is affecting flight crew. We have already heard about pilots having to take only essentials in a clear plastic bag. For some of us, we have to take our hold baggage with us to the a/c and security screeners at the crew control checkpoints are forbidding anything going through that could, in theory, be transferred from the hold baggage to our 'plastic bags' after passing through screening. That means that those of us who fly long haul will not be allowed to take anything such as shampoo, toothpaste, deodorants etc. We will not be allowed to take our car keys if they have electronic fobs. The obvious anomaly in all this is that once we have left all those things behind we are then given control of a multi million dollar potential weapon of mass destruction and trusted to keep it secure and operate it safely.
Now, I have long advocated for intelligent profiling. Note, I did not say racial profiling or any of the other misquoted types of 'profiling' that some posters seem unable to figure out. Intelligent profiling is not cheap and is labour intensive as the training is difficult and does not allow for the lowest common denominator factor of the MacDonalds type of recruitment to fill the ranks. What intelligent profilers are able to do is use not only psychological profiling but also intelligent (as in intelligence services)profiling. Whilst some PC lobbyists will cry foul the important thing to remember is that this type of profiling, when carried out by highly trained profilers with the proper kind of intelligence back-up, is very successful.
In the past we have heard the usual arguments that it would not work anywhere as busy as the UK or the USA and is only successful in places such as Israel with El Al because it would cause too much chaos and cost too much. Well, having landed in LHR yesterday morning as the current crisis was unfolding and then trying to get a flight up to MAN to get home, I only had to look around to see how expensive the current method of attacking the problem is and the chaos that that causes.
So, getting back to the problem that I see with screening us as pilots when we are trying to get to our a/c, we have a serious problem and many of us are not too happy with the current policy of applying flawed logic and just banning us from taking basic essentials with us on board for use down route. We have all been screened for security reasons and are trusted with multi million doallr pieces of equipment and hundreds of pax lives every time we go to work. If the agencies that oversee security cannot figure out a system, especially where we have our own security screening, to allow us to carry what we need without subjecting us to ridiculous rules that defeat all logic then we have a serious problem. If we carry armed sky marshals, are they subjected to the same ridiculous screening? Why not have a profiler deal with the crew instead of leaving it to a blanket ban on things such as nail clippers and bottles of shampoo.
Either we are security cleared and trusted or we are not. We are expected to operate safely and have a lot of responsibility. It would appear that the authorities are incapable of sorting this anomaly out which tells us a lot about their real capabilities. That is not to detract from the services that were involved with the background operations to prevent the current situation from materialising. However, observing the current knee-jerk reactions leaves little faith in those that decide on how to handle the crew who have to operate under these conditions.
