I flew from LHR to Toronto yesterday. Upon boarding at Gate C66 (via the FastTrack) I was questioned by the G4S secuirty officer. I presented my Canadian passport. He asked:
1) What is the purpose of your trip to Canada?
2) How many days were you away?
3) How much money do you have on you?
I am a dual British/Canadian citizen with the absolute right to travel to either country at any time. G4S are a private security company, paid for by BA, to conduct a final document check (so that BA doesn't get fined should passengers arrive at their destination with fake passports or no passports at all). They are NOT Police officers or UKBA officers.
Correct me if I am wrong, but G4S has NO RIGHT to ask me such invasive questions?
I think you are confusing legal right to ask and legal right to expect an answer.
UKBA can expect an answer, G4S can not.
However I have no legal right to ask you in a job interview "Where do you see yourself in 5 years" but you wouldn't get a job from me if you didn't answer. Same is true with the G4S questions; you won't board the plane most of the time if you don't answer the G4S question.
Programs: BA Bronze; CX Gold; HHonors Diamond; SPG Gold; Hertz #1 Club Gold; Avis Preferred; Amex Platinum
Posts: 191
Quote:
Originally Posted by themax
They are NOT Police officers or UKBA officers.
My experience of G4S is that they have a tendency to get slightly ahead of themselves in this respect....
Quote:
Originally Posted by themax
Correct me if I am wrong, but G4S has NO RIGHT to ask me such invasive questions?
Not sure, but it does seem a little out of their jurisdiction. When all is said and done, they're basically just bouncers, not Police or UKBA. They really have no more 'power' than you or I. That said if they do have grounds to ask the questions, and you refuse, they may just declare you a 'security risk' and request the presence of Police/UKBA to make you comply.
As someone who works for a handling agent checkin in & boarding flights day in, day out (Admittedly not for BA.) If I became aware of any passenger failing to answer reasonable questions from an appointed security officer, they would most likely find themselves landside rather than airborne.
The only issue I do find dubious is asking how much money you have, if for the purposes of being able to support yourself while in Canada, then I'm afraid thats for Canadian Immigration to ask you.
As someone who works for a handling agent checkin in & boarding flights day in, day out (Admittedly not for BA.) If I became aware of any passenger failing to answer reasonable questions from an appointed security officer, they would most likely find themselves landside rather than airborne.
The only issue I do find dubious is asking how much money you have, if for the purposes of being able to support yourself while in Canada, then I'm afraid thats for Canadian Immigration to ask you.
He's a canadian citizen. These were not reasonable questions. The only gate-line question I've ever been asked is "could you show me your visa please" (they had looked through several russian visas but hadn't spotted the one that was in date, took me a while too!)
__________________
2013: UK, HU, SG, IL, PS, FR, BE, IT, VA, US, ZA, DE, JP, KR, HK
2012: UK, WL, NL, BE, US, RU, IL, PS, IN, SG, RI, HU - Bold=New, Italic=Booked
He's a canadian citizen. These were not reasonable questions. The only gate-line question I've ever been asked is "could you show me your visa please" (they had looked through several russian visas but hadn't spotted the one that was in date, took me a while too!)
Sometimes security staff are directed to ask every passenger they speak to, the same set of questions to keep the checks standard and the same for all.
Might not be the most flexible way of doing things but its fair to all.
Its not answer the answer that answers the question, its sometimes the manner of the answer.
As someone who works for a handling agent checkin in & boarding flights day in, day out (Admittedly not for BA.) If I became aware of any passenger failing to answer reasonable questions from an appointed security officer, they would most likely find themselves landside rather than airborne.
The only issue I do find dubious is asking how much money you have, if for the purposes of being able to support yourself while in Canada, then I'm afraid thats for Canadian Immigration to ask you.
But are these reasonable questions for G4S to be asking ? Why are G4S asking them ? Isn't the job of G4S is to do a final check to see if the passenger has the correct paper work to board the flight.
Bottom line is: don't answer the questions and you will be asked to step aside and wait for the real coppers or at least a real BA person. Either way, they will make it so you don't board that flight and, at best, fly on the next available. As a security "incident" you get nothing other than a nice view of aircraft.
If BA is entitled to ask and by extension has a duty to ask questions of a passenger before
travel, then it follows that BA's agents are too. The questions asked do seem rather odd,
especially in light of a Canadian citizen travelling. I suspect what was written earlier is
probably true: they ask everyone the same questions without thinking about the passport.
Odd, seems like they just make the "rules" up as they go along.
Once in Manchester flying with Continental I was asked all sorts of questions why, how much, how come etc. I am not sure about the rules/law but that has never happened since.
Programs: BA Silver, BA AmexPremPlus, AmexGoldMR, Oyster card
Posts: 52
Nobody likes the G4S rent-a-cop types, but it seems they are a fact of life in many places, not just airports (and not only in the UK).
This is really an area of cost recovery/mitigation by the airlines. If BA carries a passenger from LHR to YYZ, and the passenger is then denied entry into Canada, BA is responsible for the cost of returning said passenger to the UK. Agree that most of the G4S questions are clearly inapplicable to the OP (assuming the G4S person saw the British - not Canadian- passport).
Odd, seems like they just make the "rules" up as they go along.
Once in Manchester flying with Continental I was asked all sorts of questions why, how much, how come etc. I am not sure about the rules/law but that has never happened since.
This is exactly the kind of thing that bothers me. I have been through effective and professional passenger profiling in TLV and it was handled much better than the 'random' checks experienced when boarding flights to / within the US. Please do not make me feel guilty if I have not given you a reason to do so, security people.
Most US airlines have this. i've encountered it ex-DUB on UA/US etc and even AC have similar private security doing checks. Same with UA/AA ex-LHR. It isn't the questions per-se, but how they are answered. That's what they're checking.
That's not to say I approve of it, but I think you're looking at this from the wrong angle. They really don't care what you answer, but how you answer.
__________________ "Haven't you heard? I'm not allowed in the first class cabin".
