This whole system is a farce.
I am based at a London airport. I have an ID from them which is valid. However, if you don't fly from that airport for one month the pass becomes "parked". This means it doesn't swipe and you basically can't use it at that airport. I presume this is an additional security "feature" to prevent stolen passes being used.
The interesting thing is that mine has been parked for many many months and yet I am still able to use the same pass at every other airport in the UK without a problem - they just give it a cursory glance and off I go. I wonder if security staff ever get to see what properly issued passes actually look like anyway?
So...I had to fly, on duty, but not in uniform, as a passenger on another airlines flight recently. Our crew room is airside. I went to the security point but they refused to let me through because my pass had been "parked".
So I went round to passenger security, showed them my boarding pass, then proceeded to the crew room.
The only way this will get resolved is for a politician to want to get involved with it. Then someone could instigate a UK National Airport Security Pass which actually involved proper checks on everybody that works at airports.
There would be a swipe system in place and a pin code for the various keypads at airports around the country. New codes would be promulgated regularly to airside pass holders email addresses or via their employer.
That way I wouldn't get stuck on an aircraft post-ferrying, at a UK airport where you have to swipe your pass to get out of the airbridge - what happens if the agent goes and you don't have a local pass? You can't get off!
I think everyone should have a thorough background check initially, prior to the pass being issued. No exceptions. Not even for foreign workers!!!
And don't even get me started on report times!!!! Report times should be increased by at least 15 minutes due to the security regulations we now have.