DaveyG....you said may I please justify what we do with the simple words..."We operate in the UK under the rules that the Dept for Transport set out". in a previous post;
then you went on to say It is obvious to us (and my own section do actually ask the pilots and aircrews) that different rules appear to apply to each UK airport.. as was mentioned, this can only be caused by the different managements at each location applying their own "little bit extra" on top of DFT rulings.
I think you are missing the fundemental problem this contradiction causes.
Crews are frustrated, annoyed (and even driven to calling security people "nobs") because of the massive inconsistancies. We are constantly told "oh thats the dft rules, mate...." but yet we know that the particular rule doesn't exist at another airport. Basically the system is being administered very very badly. It is causing frustration for crews and they can clearly see there is no added security value to it. Let me give you some examples
1. you said everyone is security checked. WRONG. armed police officers walk through at a certain uk airport. they do not disarm. they set off the scanner. they do not take their hat off. they go airside.
2. engineers bring through every imaginable cutting and slicing tool. also, i can walk into our engineering office and get any of these tools. i cannot bring a kitchen knife through. neither can an engineer!
3. a refueller (truck driver) cannot bring a can of coke through security. this is presumably because a coke can is more than 100ml and of course it may be explosive. after having his coke confiscated he gets back into the truck with 80 tons of explosive jet fuel and goes airside (with his 20 marlboro and a LIGHTER on the dashboard)
4. while the pilot is having his 10ml of water confiscated because it's in a bottle that is 250ml in size; the next person through security is an 18 year old contractor from a temp agency, who has got a job stocking shelves in Boots, and he's loading cases of 1L bottles of evian onto the scanner.....which the pilot can now go to boots and buy.
DaveG...you contribution is welcome and honorable. But I think you are missing the fundemental flaws in the system.
Well done to the person who said that using stress/flight safety as a reson to change security procedures is the wrong way to go. It really will distract from the core issue. Which is
1/security procedures are not effective. there are too many massive loopholes, and unessecery energy is being spent on confiscating toothpaste from cabin crew
2/some security staff are rude to airline staff, however, there is no quality procedures in place to monitor their performance (only a reactionary system when there is a complaint)
thx if your still reading....phew!