Security breach at MCI
 

I noticed CO employees going back and forth through a gate exit door that exits to the ticketing area. They are by-passing the security check. What prevents them from taking a metal object to the gate?

CF

Stop and think - thousands of baggage handlers, cargo agents, caterers, fuelers, and other ground personnel generally are not required pass through security (X-ray/metal detectors) - and they have direct access to aircraft.

Why would gate agents pose any greater risk? If some employee is trying to get an item on airplane, there are far easier ways to do it airside vs. landside. The gate agent scenario at MCI is a non-issue. There is a lot more risk elsewhere.

More importantly, I've heard that mechanics have access to planes and are allowed to carry screwdrivers and other metal tools in "secure" areas! :eek:

I'm not concerned about that. The fact that they can get on board an aircraft without having their shoes screened is simply absurd. :D

I think the thing to consider here is MCI's unique security situation. Screening there is more decentralized than anywhere else. Since each group of gates has its own screening and it's right next to the ticketing areas, it's probably necessary that agents go back and forth somewhat. Additionally, MCI is one of the few airports (I think there are only 3 or 4 total) that were allowed to keep contracted, non-TSA security screeners. The case was made for this at MCI primarily because of the decentralized screening situation there. If they're allowed to deviate from the requirements for TSA screeners, perhaps they're allowed to make other customized procedures, such as allowing gate agents with badges to go back and forth between the secure gate areas and the unsecure ticketing areas.

All valid points... and thank you all for the input. I don't feel any safer though, perhaps I shouldn't. I talked to a peace officer at LAX tonight and he said that would bever happen there. If they did allow that, he said, we'd see crew going through the exit, merely flashing thier badge. I think security should be the same across the US... but of course that makes too much sence (possibly).

CF

All good points, but I know that a lot of airports do screen all employees. I would think that a small airport would actually be more vulnerable. MCI does have flights to NY and other major cities. If one FA does do something really bad I would bet that the security preceedures would change.

Having done a lot of flying in and out of MLI, which is a pretty small airport (but busy), I've taken flights where the same Mesaba employee checked my bag at the ticket counter, took my BP at the gate, then went outside to load the gate-checked rollaboards into the RJ's cargo hold. And that's on NW, which has over 10 flights a day out of MLI. If Mesaba supermen like him had to go through TSA shakedown each time they ran between ticket counter, tarmac, and gate, they'd be spending half their day getting groped.

I've often wondered about the security of our whole air travel system as it is affected by the smallest of airports. MLI is practically ORD compared to some of the places I've flown out of - GRI, EAR, DEC, CMI, ALO, VIC to name a few. The airlines necessarily need multi-tasking agents at these small places. I'm not terribly worried about the employees themselves, who undergo background checks and other security screens. But it seems that with all their responsibilities, these multitasking superworkers are more likely to miss something that they should catch. Once a pax is inside security, he can go just about anywhere without going through security again. The whole system is only as safe as its weakest link.

So, why are the passengers a risk then? :confused:

Employees of US airlines *supposedly* are not Iranian citizens, and have gone through some type of backgound screening.

Passengers can be foreign nationals, can fly without background security checks, etc.

Most airline hijackings have been by airline passengers, not airline employees, no? Theoretically, passengers pose more of threat to an airline thatn it's own employees.

Unless your Frank Lorenzo, that is.

Funny, I seem to remember an EgyptAir flight that was downed by... an employee! The captain.

So, if we're going to give the employees a free pass, we might as well give the passengers a free pass too.

Can't say I've seen this, since I don't generally fly in to smaller airports. But what's to stop anyone from dressing like an employee, creating fake credentials, and moving around when no one's paying much attention? Most of the time, if someone looks like he or she knows what they're doing, no one will question them.

This is common practice at virtually ALL US airports. It happens at DFW all the time. There is a door to the ticketing area where Gate Agents and ticket counter personnel can pass without security. It is not just MCI. No big deal. Planes will never be totally safe - but you still are safer flying rather than driving -- you odds of dying on the way to the airport are FAR greater than in a plane.

Yes, it was airline pilot that downed Egyptair. As well as a USAir employee in California in '87. So that's 2 out of several hundred. That's why I said "most", not "all'.

Who is advocating giving employees a free pass with security? I must have missed that one.