mysterym

I've seen secondary screening coming back from Spain to JFK

My guess is the airlines have done their own risk assessment of threats and how good they think the airport screening/security is. They do this additional screening to attempt to lower their risk to an acceptable level to them to continue operations on a route or from a specific country. Threat intel is constantly flowing and threats can change so it wouldnt surprise me to to see it be more dynamic as to where the airlines focus these efforts. There are not only external threats but insider threats to consider as well. I have seen certain airlines conduct security investigations/screening before even giving you a boarding pass (i.e. you cannot print it on your own, it says obtain at airport). So you do the pre-screening, airport screening, and then possibly screening at the gate. Plus don't forget passport control so sometimes the whole process of arriving at the airport and getting to your gate can take a full 2+ hours under normal circumstances.

tecate55

Fun fact: the company that runs those screens in CDG, the dutch-based ICTS International, "was established in 1982, by former members of the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, and El Al airline security agents.". Though on my CDG-JFK flight, the screener seemed 100% American.

HDQDD

TSA half arse supplemental screening is done at all US airports on occasion, and isn't the same thing (just a total waste of tax dollars in the name of "security theater"). TLV flights are on another level. Flying UA through EWR a while back I saw a EWR-TLV flight and they had erected walls around the gate and everyone had to go through mags and behavioral screening before being admitted to the gate area.

I've seen similar (maybe not quite as intrusive) in MAD and LHR to name a few. Many other airports "randomly" select peeps for secondary (CDG, many Central American airports (incl CUN)). It seems as if it's been relaxed a bit across most of Europe for TATL flights the last few years.

LeoNYC10

Seems that no one knows the answers whether Delta paid money to this security firm's people (clearly not TSA personnel) to do this secondary X-ray and pat down search only for their TLV bound flights from JFK. Which means that as of now they do this work only once per day. Do they go home afterwards?

Mats

There are multiple parts to this:

1. Flights from the USA and Canada to Israel
There is secondary screening for all departures.
- El Al: document check by El Al's own staff.
- United: wanding and swabbing (at least in Newark; I don't know about Dulles and San Francisco). This is conducted by private contractors.
- Delta: walk-through metal detectors and x-ray machines. This is conducted by private contractors.
- Air Canada: swabbing of hand luggage, hands, and waist. This is conducted by CATSA.

2. Intercontinental flights to the USA
- Wide-ranging versions. These are conducted by contract security staff (I-SEC, ICTS, etc). In some cases, American Airlines staff conduct their own.
- On US carriers (usually): document check and interview before check-in, the same prior to boarding. The interviews range from brief and pro forma, to offensive and detailed.
- Some airlines have 100-percent baggage inspections; some are at random or for passengers designated as "selectees" (SSSS)
- A few airlines swab shoes and hands for explosives; others have wanding or frisking
- Secondary inspections are conducted at the gate in most cases, but some airports conduct this at the screening checkpoint (Frankfurt, Canadian airports.) At Kevlavik, there is a separate room, a separate facility, just for passengers designated for secondary screening.
- Interviews are centralized at Amsterdam/Schipol, and--often--at Frankfurt, Munich, and Zurich.

3. Flights departing the USA (not to Israel) or domestic flights within the USA
- The TSA conducts random screening at departure gates. This has been scaled back tremendously, but it is still in force. The decision to screen a particular flight is presumably based on staffing, logistics, and timing rather than any particular threat. This can range from passport and ID inspections, explosive testing, hand luggage searches, and more. Swabbing and wanding seem to have been (mercifully) ended.
- US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) conducts passport inspections and interviews on some international flights departing the USA. They are generally seeking undeclared currency.

4. Passengers with Onward Flights to the USA
Icelandair (at London/Heathrow) and some other carriers conduct additional interviews and document checks at the passenger's point of origin. This would apply to a passenger travelling--say--from London to New York via Keflavik. The interview and screening is conducted in London, not Kevlavik.
@LeoNYC10, that is a fascinating question.
Here's my guess: contract security agents are all over the airport: on the apron, guarding entrances to SIDA zones, guarding aircraft. I'm guessing that it is these same agents who are assigned to the Delta flight at JFK. In my experience, they're incredibly friendly. The same in Tel Aviv: cheerful, hospitable, no hassle.

indufan

I don't remember the exact circumstances but a few years ago I just happened to be around the El Al counter while I was flying domestically and a guy started engaging me in an interview. I nearly told him to .... off.

LeoNYC10

Now we are getting somewhere. You are probably 100% on the money here. So these guys are doing something else most of the time and are only utilized once a day for the Delta flight to Israel. The other thing is that these guys only check the hand and carry on luggage, so they rely fully on TSA to screen the cargo and checked in luggage and find that sufficient.

In other words, the concern is that someone will get something between the TSA check at the airport and the gate.

I would feel better, personally, if they talked to every person at the gate like they do at El Al, and carefully screened those that deemed possibly suspicious. The X-Ray check seemed similar to the one TSA does, and we all know TSA misses a lot of things based on their own audits.

obscure2k

As this is not DL-specific, I am moving the thread to the TS/S Forum
Obscure2K
DL Moderator

awayIgo

mysterym

Some airlines do not let you get a boarding pass until you do an in-person check-in at the counter where you may be subject to the first round of screening / pre-screening. You cannot check your bags until you have your boarding pass right? That said, I have no clue if checked luggage is subject to additional searches based on different flights. It would be pretty easy to separate luggage for additional inspection based on destination. I have seen setups at various airports where checked luggage is subject to screening before being put on a conveyor belt to get sent off to wherever it goes. So I wouldn't immediately assume that checked baggage isn't getting as thorough of a check as carry-on baggage. And ya, TSA is security theater aka a joke. Not too mention they like getting handsy with children (I recently watched a TSA agent with an expression of joy molest a child, focusing his hands on the child's groin area for a while, disgusting).

MSPeconomist

nycflyer17

I've been pulled aside at the gate at LHR before for secondary screening prior to boarding flights back to the US. From what I can tell this is the practice for every flight back to JFK, at least (I've seen this for Delta and AA flights). There's no metal detector as it's at the gate (those claustrophobic enclosed gates they have at LHR), but they run some test strips etc. and look through all your belongings. It doesn't delay anything unless you arrive really late I guess.

TWA884

Folks,

The cardinal rule at FlyerTalk is that we discuss the topic at hand and not each other.
Do NOT personalize your comments or make them about other members with whom you disagree!

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

J. Leslie

It seems to me that Israel is simply doing what the US does on flights to your country. When I'm flying to the US from Canada, I have to undergo the shoes-off, belts-off security theatre charade mocked I don't have to endure anywhere else. Israel has its requirements, and you should respect those.

GUWonder