Aviation Security and Stress Factor.......

Aviation security officers /Screeners here and every where in world daily walk the plank in there minds, they are worried over one thing..


Have i missed some thing? the stress factor on one shift is so high that they have to maintain there sanity and that is not easy......first time Low Cost Airlines, passengers who don't understand why they have to stand in long lines to get there baggage screened, not understanding why some items from there bags have to be removed... to cut this pressure the the regulatory body had decided to give screener's a 20 min rotation ..one sits on the XRAY and other keeps a watch on the line ( he is supposed to do profiling of passengers). The 20 min rotation is a good thing ...

Stress kills and it kills fast ,Stress makes you commit mistakes ...there is no programme in the world for aviation security personal teaching them how to deal with pressure...

A security agent/officers life from the moment he comes on a shift is a fight with the system which is trying to subvert his main area of function....Multitasking is a cross function which is now being used by airlines and mostly in Low Cost Airlines, it saves money for the company to Hire/train security officers, they are supposed to work as customer service agents also, as when required they can be taken off security roster and put to customer service duties....this further puts pressure on security if the person taken is a certified screener...now the team loses one screener...to the system...and have to make do with what they have...A certified screener is qualified to carry on all security functions from A-Z.....

This further builds pressure on the team...which plods on with what they have....Multitasking should always be from Customer service to security..so that Customer Service which are the Prima Dona's of every airline understands what is security , which most of them even after knowing tend to ignore...or just don't wish to see,as it goes away from there basic brief.."send the aircraft on time"...

In one of my earlier posts i wrote that security has to be independent of every department if it has to carry out its brief...Security gets two briefs one from the regulatory body and one from the airline management.....the airline managements brief...is always "Look guys, be good and don't be a stickler for rules".....who to listen and who to ignore......