BALPA: Britain's pilots back Broughton on safety

BALPA General Secretary Jim McAuslan said: 'These procedures currently employ a 'catch all' approach, lacking true focus on the very real threat from international terrorism that faces both UK and International aviation. '

Such procedures, BALPA says, have proven a frustration to the industry, albeit it may not have been appropriate to select a specific example such as the threat from the adaptation of footwear into an explosive device - currently a very real and proven security threat.

Britain's airline pilots believe aviation security should be a threat based process applying security measures on the latest intelligence - focusing valuable resources where there is a true threat to the safety of an aircraft and its passengers.

The current UK policy which views everyone and everything as a threat is at odds with such a process.

A prime example is the current security checking of pilots themselves which makes no differentiation between a Captain of 20 years and a passenger who has just walked into the airport from the street. At the very least this can be a stressful process for the flightcrew member involved who might pass through security several times a day, but makes absolutely no sense in terms of security risk reduction.

BALPA has long argued that a review of such procedures by the UK Government is required to ensure that whilst any risks are covered, a balance is restored to ensure that passengers are no longer exposed to unnecessary inconvenience and that the industry is not burdened with unnecessary and costly processes.