Airlines Need Better Security Staff : Airports: Security costs, which are going up due to higher pay levels for trained personnel and new equipment, might well be reflected in the price of airline tickets.
Now that expensive and complex security equipment is being developed and introduced at many airports, the Air Transport Assn., an industry group representing major U.S. airlines, is making proposals to upgrade the hiring and training standards of airport personnel who screen passengers and baggage.
Airlines are responsible for security at airports, so the carriers hire private security firms to handle it.
Under proposed guidelines, security personnel should be reasonably proficient in English, citizens with no criminal record and at least 18 years old. They might have to pass an aptitude test. Passing a drug test is also a part of the proposed program.
“These personnel would eventually come under new Department of Transportation drug-testing rules, but we’re making a drug test part of our proposal,” an ATA spokesman said.
Applicants also may need to take more complex training, with the guidelines for such education still being developed by the ATA.
“Screening personnel now get about six hours of training, plus on-the-job training before they operate on their own,” the spokesman said. “At a minimum, we’ll be doubling the amount of training they should get.”
But these guidelines are not mandatory for the airlines, the spokesman added. “There weren’t any old rules, and these are the first codified guidelines that the carriers are expected to follow.”
Airlines Fined
The new standards, which the ATA wants airlines to apply when they make or renew contracts with the security companies, also are expected to cut the rapid turnover in personnel.
The FAA has fined airlines for failure to detect weapons, including guns and knives, at airport screening points. “The new guidelines are the airlines’ own initiative, but the fines were something of an impetus,” the FAA spokesman said.
Also at issue is the rate of pay for security personnel. Some of the guards may be making minimum wage ($4.25). Thus it’s questionable how effective the new standards can be unless there is a corresponding rise in the pay level.
Although efforts to upgrade security personnel at airports continue, to augment the improved equipment, the cost of better trained and paid personnel is sure to be eventually reflected in the cost of air fares.
Pay levels, however, are expected to rise as the degree of professionalism is improved, the FAA spokesman said.
Not all security companies bid for this type of work, with the pay levels cited as a basic reason.
“We haven’t put in any bids for airport assignments because the amount that we would be paid for the service would necessitate, after liability and overhead expenses, that we pay our people the minimum wage,” David Wilson, owner of Los Angeles-based Consolidated Protective Services, said. “We want to hire higher-caliber people, and we try to start personnel out at $5 an hour.”
Pay More Money
A spokesman for one of the major companies providing security services at LAX said: “We’ve increased the pay level over the minimum-wage level, as we found that there was too much of a turnover at that level and we couldn’t attract better candidates.
“We went to the airlines we serve and they all agreed to furnish more money, and since then the turnover has been much less. I don’t think there’s anyone at this point doing this sort of work at LAX at the minimum-wage level.”
While the pay level for airport screening personnel has gone up, it’s still not a well-paying field. “Consumers should realize that preboarding screening is a high-cost operation because it’s around the clock at many terminals and labor-intensive,” the spokesman said.
On the background and training aspect, the security firm requires a high school diploma. “We give our new employees 16 hours of classroom training and then a week of on-the-job training before they start work. And there’s eight hours of recurrent training every six months.”
From an airline perspective, Vince Durocher, district director of marketing for Delta, said: “We’re paying more than the minimum wage level at LAX, but the amount at other airports around the country would vary according to the circumstances of the local marketplace.
“Travelers should also realize that when we evaluate bids, we want to pick the best company to handle our security services as well as one that will reflect well on Delta. These personnel come into contact with our passengers and it’s important that they provide a good impression. If you pay minimum wage, you may not get the best people.”
Records Sealed
Then there’s the issue of checking applicant records, one of the new guidelines set by the ATA. Ray Boyd, head of Boyd & Associates, a Los Angeles security firm, said: “That sounds good, but you can only ask for convictions in California, and someone’s record could be purged due to participation in a diversionary program.”
Boyd said juvenile records are sealed in California, so someone could have committed a major crime at 17, then applied for a job when he turned 21, and the security firm would not be able to get the pertinent information.
On drug tests, another security company spokesman indicated that this has been a condition applied only upon the request of clients.
“It’s the same thing with criminal record checks. We don’t do it as a standard procedure unless called for. We just do a normal employment background check.”
