Salut Kenoco - haven't heard that story about FR, but it wouldn't surprise me since:
1/ at a recent interview with Islandsflug I was told the training would start within 2 weeks, for 1 week (exp. c/c only) - that's too short for BHX airport to process airside security passes, so they would have come from Dublin where the agency doing the recruitment is based - or perhaps from Iceland (!)
2/ Foreign airline crews, with foreign security passes, do have airside access in UK and elsewhere
3/ British airports do not seem to use the same requirements when issuing security passes - maybe a unique, centralised procedure wouldn't hurt.
4/ What's the point of a given airport's security dept. starting the references procedures all over again when one happens to get a new job on the same airport? Bloody waste of time, effort, and money!
5/ When I did flight training in COV, I wasn't asked for all these references, yet as a student pilot, I had airside access on a commercial airport...
Let's face it: no procedure is 100% foolproof and there has to be some built-in flexibility. As for crew being grounded waiting for their pass to be issued (MyFlyBHX's reply), I think BHX airport is responsible for their loss of earnings flight-pay-wise.
(Il est paradoxal d'être traité en suspect lorsque l'on a travaillé depuis des annés dans le transport aérien.. Parfois on a l'impression de se battre contre des moulins!)
A+ l'ami(e)