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UK: House of Commons Transport Committee report on: Passengers’ Experiences of Air Travel

01 July 2007

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Passengers’ Experiences of Air Travel (pdf) Airport security searches: "intrusive and degrading process" The Airport Operators’ Association sums up the situation:

"The combination of long queues, substantial disrobing and complicated searching leaves the passenger with an experience of having been through an intrusive and degrading process … Airport staff report to us that the government has lost the goodwill that passengers initially afforded it … Airport Security Managers are reporting that they are seeing similar trends in terms of goodwill among their security staff, who likewise are struggling to accept complexities associated with the current regime."

and Professor Alan Hatcher of the International School for Security and Explosives Education and Michael Todd, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester both pointed out to us in October 2006 that lengthy queues in check-in areas presented a significant security threat:

"One of my concerns is that we are creating new targets. We have lines of people in terminals now, 200, 300 people in a queue, your bag is not searched when you go in or out, you can take 23kg of baggage with you and 23kg of ammonium nitrate mix would … make a good impact."

The Committee also reports that: "7,000 tonnes of prohibited material being collected every year." and Mr Hutcheson of BAA, explained that:

"the most effective security regime is one that the public willingly participate in, the public today do not understand it; it is complex, they do not accept it and there is strong evidence that they even resist it".

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