I was issued with a notice at crew check-in listing the different requirements for both LGW and LHR about what can and can't be carried with flight crew to the aircraft. For LGW the list said NO pens. You could carry a laptop if it was essential for your job as a crew member. Of course those that elected to take their laptops, if questioned about them only had to say that they were required even if they weren't. It shows how absurd the rules are.
I have no doubt that some airlines have not distributed lists to their crews about what can and can't be carried and subsequently many have carried through pens, wittingly or unwittingly. As I operate to the USA, there are even more different interpretations on the rules. Perhaps only USA bound crews cannot carry pens? The point is that there are different directives in force, most likely individual interpretations of the recommendations from the DfT TranSec.
If there are different interpretations then it means that these people are throttling our industry and endangering our economy which in turn endangers our jobs. There is no way I am advocating any sort of industrial action. I am not so stupid as to realise that to damage my employers business when it is not their fault is not the way to go.
As pilots, we are doing our best to get our passengers away to their destinations. We are going that extra mile already by being as flexible as possible to try and minimise the disruption. Our schedules are shot to pieces and crew duty times are being stretched well into discretion. We are responsible adults with a duty of care but we are expected to be subjected to ill thought through security rules that do absolutely nothing whatsoever to protect ourselves and our pax.
The security screeners are just doing their jobs. They are instructed from on above by their managers who receive their instructions from further up the idiocy chain. Somewhere along the line common sense and logic have been thrown away and we have the farce that is such a hot topic for discussion. Even worse, we now have doubts about any successful prosecution should it ever get to court because of statements and soundbites made by ministers and police. The media released identities because the Chancellor authorised the Bank of England to list those whose assets have been released and other politicians leaked the info in some sick attempt to curry favour with their favourite journalists. By making statements such as "prevented mass murder on an unimaginable scale", they have possibly prejudiced the case according to the Attorney General.
So, now we have a throttling of our industry by mandarins reacting in typical knee-jerk mode with edicts and rules that are being interpreted differently at different airports which only serve to do the terrorists jobs for them. I wish there was an easy answer but unfortunately we will be told that we do not have the big picture and that excuse will be used to cover up the ineptitude and poor decision making behind this fiasco.
Of course, none of this is helped by the media hysteria that is kicked up. Already we see people on here posting 'facts' that are not verified or distorted. For example, one of the suspects arrested is quoted to have been employed at LHR as a "security guard". Immediately muppets will assume that a 'security guard' in some way controls the security we are discussing here. Well, if you are trying to associate a 'security guard' with a 'security screener' then you need your head examining. We all know that many 'security guards' are employed by private security companies on minimum wages and with only the most basic of training and their jobs are to keep an eye out and check passes. The screeners are definitely not 'security guards' and their job is only screening pax and crew.
So, let's not fall into the media hysteria trap. We have enough problems just trying to do our jobs at the moment. Yesterday I decided to put my crew bag into my suitcase and carried only my passport, licence and a spare pair of glasses. That was it. I must say that the strain on my back having to lug cases and bags was much relieved but I did feel a bit like a lemon waiting for the cabin crew to pilfer some pens from the pax amenity kits. We need to be putting pressure on our professional associations to use their lobbying powers to get the necessary changes and lifting of ill thought through, knee-jerk rules that have no consistency or logic. We need them to start getting back the trust that we deserve. We are professionals and work very hard to get where we are today and we don't need Muppets doing the terrorists jobs for them which puts our jobs on the line.