Smithey said there has been talk in Washington about creating special badges for flight crews and subjecting them to a different level of security. But the Transportation Security Administration has declined to do so, saying its mandate from Congress is to screen everyone.
That statement is a lie, since they are not required to screen any other employees than flight crew. It's all part of the "Greatest Security Show on Earth!"
Of course we are getting frustrated by the screening of flight crews. We have been frustrated since long before 9/11. There is no logic in it. We are the only employee group that doesn't need a weapon to take over the airplane, yet we are the only group that gets screened. It goes back to 1987 when a recently terminated USAir CSA named David Burke used his unsurrendered ID card to access airside in LAX with a 44 magnum. He boarded PSA flight 1771 as a revenue passenger. The supervisor that terminated him was on the airplane (Burke knew that he'd be on it), so shortly after takeoff, Mr. Burke shot his ex boss, both pilots and himself. The airplane broke up over Paso Robles as it went transonic. In the hue and cry for better security following this heinous crime, a few changes were made. ID's had to be surrendered upon termination, SIDA employees had to undergo "security" training (which amounted to a longer videotape than before), and flight crews were then required to submit to passenger screening.
Ground ops types, of which Mr. Burke was a member, are not required to submit to passenger screening.