Purposeful slowdown at Frankfurt security line?

Old Aug 25, 2019, 8:38 am
  #166  
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About 2-3 weeks ago in Frankfurt the lines were not long, but about 3 out of 4 trays were pulled over for manual inspection to a point where even the fourth tray which should have been delivered, did not come out because it was blocked by all the trays requiring manual inspection. It seemed completely ridiculous and I've spent at least 10 minutes from placing my items onto the tray to retrieving my items from manual inspection.

HTB.
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 2:00 am
  #167  
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The BP in FRA is the master of the security desaster and the only one that FraSec (supposedly) listens to. They are also evasive, see this twitter thread:

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Old Aug 26, 2019, 2:06 am
  #168  
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This is a clow-show where every actor is giving the hot potato to the others. Nobody wants to look at it seriously. The only for this to change is that it hurts LH P&L seriously and then they would push for improvements.
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 3:58 am
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Originally Posted by fransknorge
This is a clow-show where every actor is giving the hot potato to the others. Nobody wants to look at it seriously. The only for this to change is that it hurts LH P&L seriously and then they would push for improvements.
I have been following this threat with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment for a couple of months now... It is just unbelievable that in a country like Germany it is not possible to get this right... and no one really seems to care...
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 4:59 am
  #170  
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LH had a meeting with Fraport and the police pointing out the deficit in FRA in particular. It seems the extra lanes in T1 A are of no use since the nudescope scanners create so many false positives. Because of the latter the line backs up... in MUC the new lanes in the center have larger zones to unpack and repack handluggage, which compensate for the backup of the nudeoscope.
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 6:02 am
  #171  
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In addition to the staff attitude and the lack of open lanes, it is clear the unpacking and preparation is an issue. There is never a queue at the nude-o-scope themselves, and usually a period of time (30 sec) with nobody inside one, as when one person is finished being scanned the next one is still unpacking.
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 6:02 am
  #172  
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Originally Posted by Key8
I have been following this threat with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment for a couple of months now... It is just unbelievable that in a country like Germany it is not possible to get this right... and no one really seems to care...
Maybe all the problem solvers are over at BER
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 6:05 am
  #173  
 
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And that is exactly the issue, and exactly what the German police warned about when they were testing machines years ago when the US forced them on other countries. Tissues in pocket, pleats in clothing, slight sweat - they all cause issues, and result in false positives and thus more hand checks.

As noted above, I cannot use these machines at all. But each time I decline, I still have to wait for a hand screening as the screeners are busy checking those who alerted the machines. (And there are generally fewer female screeners) My travel partner is pulled about 95% of the time for a hand check, with no obvious reason.

Unfortunately this is a case of the prediction coming true, and was the reason why the original machines were not installed.

MUC staff by the way was again good to me this week.

Article on the original machines in part stated that in about half the cases there was a false alarm: 15 percent had a real alarm, 5 percent unclear why they alarned, and only 31 percent of passengers had no alarm ie green light.
In knapp der Hlfte der Flle soll es zu Fehlalarmen gekommen sein, hie es 2011 aus Kreisen des Bundesinnenministeriums. Bei weiteren 15 Prozent habe es sich um echten Alarm gehandelt - bei fnf Prozent blieb die Ursache fr die Meldung unklar. Nur in 31 Prozent der Gesamtflle gab das Gert grnes Licht, weil es nichts Verdchtiges bei dem Passagier gefunden hatte.
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/reise/si...-ein-1.1531359
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 9:19 am
  #174  
 
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Originally Posted by Key8
I have been following this threat with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment for a couple of months now... It is just unbelievable that in a country like Germany it is not possible to get this right... and no one really seems to care...
Well, I'm German-based and none of my personal 100 longest waiting times for security check or immigration took place at a German airport.

So it's more about the gap between high expectations and average reality.
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 9:41 am
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Originally Posted by thbe
So it's more about the gap between high expectations and average reality.
Absolutely. The crew and I were reassuring an American this week who was fussing about a 'short' 90 minute connection at MUC that was perfectly fine, and he was panicked about passport control. Even had he not been able to use the automated gates , I have never seen a queue anywhere like at American airports at passport control.

Even the longest FRA queues at security are what I would consider 'average' at most US airports I have used. It just is not our expectation in our country to have waits of an hour plus at security (or passport control) The reality is that there are a combination of factors driving FRA waits, but the current scanners and their false positives drive much of it.
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 9:59 am
  #176  
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Originally Posted by Key8
I have been following this threat with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment for a couple of months now... It is just unbelievable that in a country like Germany it is not possible to get this right... and no one really seems to care...
Perhaps they're testing security at FRA for the new BER experience!
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Old Aug 26, 2019, 10:39 am
  #177  
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Originally Posted by jcamp028
The worst part was that the guy who started the whole ordeal who was going to "miss his flight" was spotted in the LH panorama lounge by my wife three hours later!
Maybe he did miss his flight?
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Old Aug 27, 2019, 3:55 pm
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
Maybe he did miss his flight?
Not the impression I had but nonetheless a possibility.
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Old Aug 28, 2019, 10:09 am
  #179  
 
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Originally Posted by exbayern

Even the longest FRA queues at security are what I would consider 'average' at most US airports I have used. It just is not our expectation in our country to have waits of an hour plus at security (or passport control) The reality is that there are a combination of factors driving FRA waits, but the current scanners and their false positives drive much of it.
​​​​​​
​​​​​I don't disagree. Having said that, it's possible to do quite a lot better as the Scandinavian airports demonstrate. Due to SAS' bizarre policy I'm rarely able to use fast track at CPH yet waiting times in the regular queue are fairly consistently far shorter than at FRA priority.
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Old Aug 28, 2019, 2:22 pm
  #180  
 
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Just look within Germany. I never have issues at MUC
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