Originally Posted by Wingman32
The shoe carnival continues.
I remember once we were going through security in BDA, and one of my friend (from NY) started taking off his shoes and belt. The security agents looked @ him as if he were crazy, laughed at him, and told him to go through.
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I've seen the same thing in London and at other checkpoints overseas when a bank of flights to the US is getting ready to depart.
Fellow American's start taking their shoes off and the security folks tell em' to put the shoes back on, "It's an American Thing". This is at the primary, airport checkpoint.
However, if flying a US Carrier from Europe, US carriers are govt mandated to provide extra security which is seperate from the primary security checkpoint all passengers go through. I've seen Americans complain about security in Europe when returning to the USA, but what they're complaining about is typically the private airline security which the US Govt mandates for US carriers, which is conducted by a private firm.
Often this means a checkpoint at the gate or just prior to a group of gates used by US carriers - depending on the airport, sometimes all pax must be screened, sometimes it's random secondary at the gate. I have seen the airline contracted security request shoe removal during a gate screenings
Typically the carrier screening is a mulit-tiered process. First you are "questioned" at check-in by a private airline security contractor, typically an employee of ICTS.
Second, you clear AIRPORT security;
When you get to the gate, you are then dealing with "Private Airline Security" again. Normally you will be questioned again as you get ready to enter the gate or board the aircraft, depending on setup. Next, either a random or secondary search will occur. Questioning often continues during this and you may yet be questioned again upon boarding. It really depends on the airport and setup. I hate the questioning (interviews), but typically it's straight forward, same questions each time -- I have seen these interviews intimidate others, such as older American's - in one case I overheard such an interview with an older couple & the husbands memory was bad, and they got an interview to the 3rd degree because of inconsistent answers.
Sad to see Grenada is going to a 100% shoe carnival.
If they're doing 100%, at least it'll be consistent.
SDF_Traveler