Surely taking your shoes off can not be that difficult, can it?
If I am reading this thread correctly, there are some who believe that by virtue of the fact that they are pilots, they should be treated differently from other airport workers.
The thrust of the argument appears to be, if I wanted to do some real damage all I need to do is push the stick forward, therefore I should be exempt from the same level of inconvenience as others.
I can think of numerous airside workers who could inflict just as much damage as a pilot, so should they be exempt as well? Where should we draw the line?
You start encouraging a downgrading in security for certain individuals, then sooner or later trouble will come knocking at your door and you better hope it is not the cockpit one!!