What passport control?? The UK doesn't have an immigration desk for outbound pax!!!
Airport security should have seen this, but again, cost cutting, poor rosters and low money mean the same thing. Perhaps this is the wake up call the industry needs to realise that the balance sheet isn't the be all and end all. Sometimes you have to pay more to attract the calibre of candidates needed rather than those sent by the Job Centre!!!
This kid should have been picked up at the security gate before the search. He should then have been picked up by the gate staff, and finally by the cabin crew. 3 levels of checks all failed, what are the odds on that?? But it has happened and lessons need to learnt. For me the main lesson which will undoubtedly pass by those investigating, is that the first 2 of the 3 checks are made by staff who are earning close to minimum wage or certainly low wages anyway, who are under immense pressure, have unstable rosters invented by managers who constantly try to make a pint fill a quart glass to hit budget and allow the bosses to announce record profits!!
Everyyone in the chain is to blame, the airlines that have driven prices down, the handling agents that have let them and the shareholders who demand massive returns every year. This event has been waiting to happen for some time, and all credit to the lad concerned.
What worries me more than anything is that if an 11 year old boy with nothing more than the desire to go on a plane can do it then what are the chances of a very focused and determined terrorist doing it? But as long as the staff are stopped from bringing liquids in and so have to pay stupid prices for drinks in the working day then the shopping centre with a runway nearby can exist and make more money!!!
This incident should open up a much needed and long overdue, ADULT, debate about the way airports and airlines are run. What's the betting that a few staff will be fired for attempting to avoid disciplinary action for doing the job right and delaying the flight and the rest of this incident will be swept under the carpet in the name of profit!!