BA chairman suggests "a risk based approach to airport security"

Sir Michael Broughton states that a pilot should not have the same security checks "as a Yemeni student"

Chairman of British Airways, Sir Martin Broughton, has spoken against the "one size fits all" airport security checks, suggesting that there should instead be a "risk based approach."

In a speech to the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in London, he also suggested that it is not sensible to run the same security checks on pilot every time they fly, as should be run on, for example, a Yemeni student, as "surely the flight crew need to be the ultimate trusted traveller" and "should be subjected to a lighter security regime thus releasing resources for higher risk passengers."

He stated that flight crew "don’t need a bottle of hydrogen peroxide to do their damage if that’s what they were intent on."

Broughton spoke about a case recently where a British Airways board member was selected for additional screening from a flight from the UK to the US. This member, Broughton explains, was "in good company – well-known celebrities such as Henry Kissinger also get picked out, as do a number of infants. Doesn’t sound like risk-based selection to me."

Ways suggested by Broughton to lead improvement in airport security, also included to take a holistic look at security, to operate in unpredictable ways and to encourage investment in technology that speeds up the security process.

Broughton said: "We need to be using data better - data that we and Governments have. Positive data – for example, people who have been security cleared. Negative data – for example, Government watchlists and other data that points to reasoned selection."

"In other words – a risk-based approach to security rather than a one-size-fits-all based approach."

Further information:
Financial Times