Had to add my 2 cents worth in here...As an airline mechanic, part of my job involves travelling to remote airports to effect repairs on our A/C that had the nerve to break, away from home. In the past (Pre9-11) we would leave the hangar, drive up to the departing A/C, throw our gear on board, and meet the gate agent at the door of the A/C, where they would have our boarding passes. This minimized the waiting time for Pax & crew, as often they were holding the flight for us. ( We usually have less than 1/2 hr to gather parts, manuals, tools etc to make the flight). Now ( Post 9-11) we are required to go through security before boarding. At some airports, this process can take up to 45 mins.
Here's the scenario: We come from a secured area (the ramp), go into an un-secured area (the terminal), just so we can go through security to procede to the secured area we just left !!!
P.S. We still throw our gear on board before we go into the terminal.
Is it just me, or does anyone else see the Keystone Kops type of thing going on here???
And another thing...it seems now that our Canada-wide security pass isn't Canada -wide anymore. Its only good at the issuing airport. Kinda makes ya wonder why I filled out those endless security clearance forms, and finger printing.
