Variable Standards
Having been in civ av for 25 years, RAF prior, and BMIs security manager for some years I was always struck by how different security standards and sensible behaviour were at some airports and how some individuals felt empowered by their periferal connection with security to oppress other workers.
I recall a security person at Teeside repeatedly saying to crew "here's another one for the full body masage" prior to a very intrusive search and Manchester security staff trying hard to impress me with their power but not their effeciency. Other airports seemed to welcome their function to support safe flight by contributing to the overall effort.
It was noticeable that some smaller airports performed vastly better than the majors at detecting and dealing with problems and so were more effective but managed to avoid aggression. Securityt at Wick for instance was excellent, nothing got past them but they were always pleasant about it. I will never forget one of the baggage security ladies asking my wife if it was OK to search in my boxers, the reply that there was a big supprise waiting caused a smile all round
Their was usually a large difference between the UK and foreign airports attitude to crew. In Germany I was never frisked, they checked my badge and waved me through which I thought was a bit lax but they were superb at preventing drunks or troublesome pax from boarding. Often the first we heard about a problem was when the load sheet needed to be changed because " we rejected a passenger at the gate"
I was never sure how much the split between the DFT and the CAA over security matters reduced effectiveness
Last edited by Tinribs; 20th Mar 2013 at 09:19.