Qantas pilots refuse shoe security check

[lowerlobe]

Chimbu…. ok let’s look at your questions one at a time.

1:Why is passenger screening not being carried out on London trains.
The short answer is money and time but if there are more attacks then that will probably happen but if they were to be implemented then the train drivers would have to be checked as well just like everyone else. Though, I fail to see why asking that tech crew remove their shoes at security has any relevance to security at London underground stations.

2: if 99.99% of pilots are not a security issue why waste resources searching them when the .00001% who may be would not get past the type of security check that MA indicates above...a database screening for the correct crewmembers?
It would only take one tech crew to create a disaster just as it would only take one pax to do the same so unfortunately that is why we have security. As far as MA’s suggestion goes ,it does nothing to stop someone who has flown for years, is well known by a lot of crew but for whatever reason is converted to another religion and is convinced that he is doing the right thing by his new god to make an example of the attacks on his faith. You may or may not pick up his change of ideas but unless he starts attending a public place of worship that is known to attract terrorists or he associates with known terrorists you probably would not. This does not just apply to tech crew but cabin crew,pax and other airport employees as well .

3: You'll be happy to undergo a strip/body cavity search?
What has that to do with asking crew to remove their shoes????????????
There are security machines that are a lot more effective than the ones that are currently used in Australia. However because our airports are owned by a bank money is the main issue here and unless there is another attack they will probably not spend that money. If you look at airports in other less affluent countries then they will probably never spend the money on new technology or train people to use them.So removing shoes and similar is the alternative.

4: 99.9999999% of people would not transport explosives in such a way but by you logic we should still be searched.
At the risk of being repetitive it only takes one person to create havoc. Are you suggesting we only search one in ten people?
As I said are we going to have security or not?

5: It would be interesting to see how you would react if you were searched in this manner every time you enter your workspace.

This is the one question that amazes me…Chimbu; do you think tech crew are the only group of people that are checked when going to work? Instead of grumbling next time you are taking off your belt and shoes look around and see how many other people are doing exactly the same thing and that a lot of them are wearing uniforms as well.
I am in exactly the same boat as you as is everyone else that I work with. It is time consuming and repetitive but if you look at the basic purpose then I am happy to go along with it because I want to do my job, get home safely and enjoy the rest of my natural life and not have it end prematurely.
The problem with a lot of people is that they have short-term memories. If there were an attack last week, no one would be arguing.

PA Boy..No not at all.I don't group every pilot like that,although there are small numbers of people in everygroup within society that spend an inordinate amount of time in front of mirrors....