Do the people who service aircraft have to go through any screening?

[spin]

answer:

TSA's double standard

In the uproar about scanners and pat-downs, no one seems to have noticed that one group is exempt from inspection

Monday, Nov 22, 2010 11:01 ET

***snip***

And by "contradictory," here's some blockbuster news: Although the X-ray and metal detector rigmarole is mandatory for pilots and flight attendants, many other airport workers, including those with regular access to aircraft -- to cabins, cockpits, galleys and freight compartments -- are exempt. That's correct. Uniformed pilots cannot carry butter knives onto an airplane, yet apron workers and contract ground support staff -- cargo loaders, baggage handlers, fuelers, cabin cleaners, caterers -- can, as a matter of routine, bypass TSA inspection entirely.

All workers with airside privileges are subject to fingerprinting, a 10-year criminal background investigation and crosschecking against terror watch lists. Additionally they are subject to random physical checks by TSA. But here's what one apron worker at New York's Kennedy airport recently told me:

"All I need is my Port Authority ID, which I swipe through a turnstile. The 'sterile area' door is not watched over by any hired security or by TSA. I have worked at JFK for more than three years now and I have yet to be randomly searched. Really the only TSA presence we notice is when the blue-shirts come down to the cafeteria to get food."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=389

It would seem to me that it would be very easy for a cabin cleaner to hide weapons or plant explosives on an aircraft.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. The airlines need to issue their own version of the TWIC card

and do away with much of the bullshit that is going on today.

http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/twic/index.shtm

[somone]

2. It's been only 9 years. They're still working on it

Meanwhile, let's search the old geezers and cancer patients real good.

[spin]

8. In those 9 years they have figured out a way to make a profit ...

from terrorism by developing intrusive machines which soon will be in malls, courthouses and schools.

While we will be no safer, some of us will be a lot richer.

[Maiden England]

3. My Husbands is an aircraft mechanic - he had to get a TWIC card

http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/twic/program_info.shtm

its about as useless as the scanner/pat downs at preventing terrorism.

[spin]

4. I assume he had a background check ...

was it in depth or just cursory?

[DJ13]

5. Outsourcing of airline maintenance soars

May 23, 2008

The recent epidemic of airplane groundings because of safety inspections comes even as the major air carriers have sent more and more of their maintenance work to outside shops, a new study by Consumer Reports has found.

Why should it matter? Loopholes in aviation rules means the Federal Aviation Administration, which inspects airplanes, usually has less control over shops that perform the outside work, compared to an airline's own facilities.

That means work probably is not done by a licensed mechanic, although one has to sign off ultimately. It also means that security screening of maintenance workers is less intensive. When we examined this issue in March 2007, mechanics and FAA inspectors—people on the front lines of aviation safety—told us they were concerned that the work wasn't being checked thoroughly.

CR has examined federal financial reports filed by domestic airlines and has found the outsourcing trend continues to grow (see chart below) since our last report. In fact, based on the latest data, 12 of the 14 largest U.S. carriers increased their percentages of outsourced maintenance between 2005 and the third quarter of 2007. In addition, while only two of the 14 airlines outsourced 80 percent or more in 2005, by late last year nine of the 14 were outsourcing between 80 percent and 94 percent.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2008/05/airline-safety.html

[Rosa Luxemburg]

6. I've always worried about this

[spin]

7. Another reason that I'm glad I don't have to fly ...

Flying used to be an enjoyable experience. I looked forward to flying as one of the high points of my vacation.

Now I will avoid flying on a commercial aircraft unless absolutely necessary.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

9. it doesn't make sense that they 'frisk' passengers yet don't bother with the rest

[applegrove]

10. I worked at a gift shop at the airport. When I got the job I had to have

a 10 year background check, an iris scan, etc...This was in Montreal. I'm sure it is even tougher at American airports.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Actually depends on what airport

it is better than it used to be... but that is precisely one of the holes in the system

[Canuckistanian]

12. Sure. A timed explosive device buried deep in an engine

That would ruin a lot of people's day.