Identity checks

[sitigeltfel]

Flew LHR-EDI on BD054 yesterday morning.

On arrival at the carriers section at Terminal 1 our bags were weighed, then we were directed to the self check in machines where we printed off our boarding passes. We then left our luggage at the bag drop off point. Next step was through the security checks where our boarding passes were examined before we queued for the scanners. A quick coffee at Costa then boarding passes were examined and split at the gate before boarding.

All seems OK, but at no point were we asked to produce any ID, passport or otherwise, to prove we were the people named on our tickets. Am I missing something, or this normal for BritMid?

[Final 3 Greens]

Sitigeltfel

Did you also feel the urge to report to the Police at your destination, to let them know that you were there?

[joniveson]

A bit of a harsh response to a perfectly reasonable question!

In these days of heightened security and paranoia I would also expect some kind of check to be carried out to confirm that the person checking in is the same person named on the boarding pass.

I had the same experience with BMI a couple of years ago but I did have to use the credit card I had paid with in order to get my boarding pass.

[perkin]

There is no legal requirement for ID checks on internal flights as far as I'm aware. Some airlines do insist on this however. I've never been asked to produce photo ID for an internal flight, even after offering my passport for inspection at check-in. Hope this helps... :)

[UniFoxOs]

If it is a sensible security precaution to ensure the pax boarding the flight is the same one who bought the ticket and checked in with it, then how can it make any difference whether the flight is internal or international? The plane could still be hijacked and crashed into the Houses of Parliament (don't tempt me).

UFO

[lexxity]

As others have said, there is no requirement for id checks on internal UK flights. Although Gordon et al want to introduce this. With bmi as long as you have either your booking ref, credit/debit card, frequent flyer card or passport you can use the self service machines to check in. Even if you have your passport it won't necessarily be checked by a human, just the machine's scanner. I always check id if it is proffered, but if not then as I said before it is not a requirement. Letters to "What, trust you with my personal details?. 10 Downing Street, London W1."

[chornedsnorkack]

If it is a sensible security precaution to ensure the pax boarding the flight is the same one who bought the ticket and checked in with it, then how can it make any difference whether the flight is internal or international? The plane could still be hijacked and crashed into the Houses of Parliament (don't tempt me).

Sure - it is irrelevant for security against this.

What is more of a problem is wrong people getting over the border. If a plane lands in the same country and the ticket does not match the name then the passenger can certainly be admitted from the airport. At worst, the airline has to compensate the real owner of the ticket for the lost/stolen ticket.

If, however, someone shows up at a foreign airport and is refused admission because the foreign country does check ID, then the airline has to pay for the return ticket of the person plus a fine.

And then there is the possibility that the person boarded does get admission in the foreign country and should not have got out - criminals and kidnappers on the run who are given asylum/refused extradition when they arrive. Do airlines have any responsibility for that?

[PaperTiger]

The plane could still be hijacked and crashed into the Houses of ParliamentIndeed. That act could also conceivably be accomplished by someone who had bought a ticket and had his/her ID 'checked', no ?

ID one thing. Security completely different thing. Clear ?

[TotalBeginner]

There is no legal requirement for ID checks on internal flights as far as I'm aware.
This is absolutely correct. However, there is a legal requirement under the regulations of AAA for the airline to ensure that the person who hands over hold baggage into their custody, is also the same person that accompanies that bag on the flight. I fail to see how this can be achieved without asking to see ID. Both at check-in and the boarding gate.

[Jerbourg]

Blue Islands in Guernsey never ask for me ID at the gate. I could quite easily check in and hand my boarding card over to someone else. The other airlines at Guernsey all ask for an ID check on boarding. The security implications do worry me a little I have to say.

[perkin]

Surely 9/11 demonstrated quite clearly that anyone sufficiently determined can get on board a flight...did the perpetrators of those hijacking not have genuine passports?

Lets face it, these so called security and ID checks are basically there to allow the government(s) to monitor our movements and to make the masses feel as if they are safe...

[TotalBeginner]

Surely 9/11 demonstrated quite clearly that anyone sufficiently determined can get on board a flight...did the perpetrators of those hijacking not have genuine passports?

No, they didn't present any ID. Identification was not required by US airlines for domestic flights at the time.

[perkin]

I seem to recall they were US passport holders though...

Either way, I dont think the current 'security' checks are sufficient to stop a thoroughly determined person boarding an aircraft. Quite what would happen if they tried anything on-board is another matter entirely as I suspect there would be a dose of Pax-power, but I think the current level of security is just a token gesture to comfort the masses. Frankly, I wouldnt like to see it become any tighter anyway, as it will begin to seriously infringe upon ones freedom and civil liberties...

How did this thread start again?! :}

[TotalBeginner]

Either way, I dont think the current 'security' checks are sufficient to stop a thoroughly determined person boarding an aircraft.

No, neither do I. easyJet will accept a rail pass which is hand-written and you supply your own photo!

Identity checks on domestic flights are for one purpose only (despite what the airlines might say), to protect their name change policy. Lets face it, what would be the point of charging £X.XX for a name change, if your didn't have to show ID?

[10secondsurvey]

I recall many years ago, a 'security expert' explaining that security of any kind should be thought of like the layers of an onion. For example, someone loses a cd databse of 7.5 milion peoples personal bank details, but it can't be used, as it has a password, or maybe after some effort a criminal cracks the password, but then finds out the data is visible, but is encrypted, he manages eventually to decrypt it, only to find that each individual person data is actually split over two different CD record sets, and so even after breaking the password, and then de-crypting, the data is still pretty useless without the second disk, and the two disks are always kept separately (are you listening alastair Darling?).

It is the same for airport security, terrorist uses stolen ccard to buy ticket, but then has to get a fake id, and then convince security staff that not only does he have ID, but he knows personal details (like age address etc), and so on. Previously, check in could be a good point for ID check.

It is not that any single one measure can stop a terrorist, rather that each individual security check step, makes it harder and harder to succeed. I am astonished that electronic check -in started just after 9/11. I think it leaves a MASSIVE security hole in airlines travel.

At Frankfurt, you can check in electronically, and then board via an electronic gate, with little to no contact with a human until you get on a plane.

[PaperTiger]

I think it leaves a MASSIVE security hole in airlines travel.

At Frankfurt, you can check in electronically, and then board via an electronic gate, with little to no contact with a human until you get on a plane.So this means you are not screened then ? Thought not.

ID check one thing. Security entirely different thing. Sigh.

[derekl]

At least two of the 9/11 hijackers had valid Virginia driver's licences in fake names. I do not believe that any of them had U.S. passports.

The problem with ID cards is that the underlying database always remains open to compromise, misuse and exposure. Tens of thousands of officials -- if not hundreds of thousands -- would have access to that data. And they are all honest and competent, right? The Government seems incapable of understanding this problem, although the HMR&C child benefit database scandal might just cause them to smell the coffee.

This incident is the tip of the iceberg. Confidential data is routinely mishandled by Government in this manner.

They are just hopelessly ill-educated in basic security.

Don't ask me how I know.

[PilotsPal]

Every time I've travelled on a standby basis with bmi, I can assure you my id has been checked at least twice (on check-in and at the gate). Most important to make sure beneficiaries of staff travel are who they say they are.