It is if two crews make a pig's ear of their headcounts. You DO do headcounts, yes ?
No we don't. As strange as it may seem it is deemed that the electronic system used at the gate in the UK is adequate. The final check by us at the door is the safety net, so head counts no longer needed. They were found to make a/c miss slots etc. (LHR where its busy). It is actually very easy to muck up head counts. Babies under mums jumpers (yep I've had it), on twin aisled a/c the seat rows are not always even and are often staggered, so its damn easy to mess that one up. Downroute we do the headcount if we can't be sure of the system used for boarding.
So its us that door as safety net for the system that is supposed to be good enough at the gate.
Mid mar mile, it is for security nothing else. and if you are that inebriated that we can tell as soon as look at you then you are a security risk.
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