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How Europe handles airport security

Free Market Foundation

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U.S. experts have long studied and admired how airport officials in Europe manage security, but there hasn’t been the will or resources at U.S. airports to put European-style security measures into effect until now.

Here are some of those procedures:

  • In most European countries, the government is ultimately in charge of security, but it hires private firms to perform the actual security functions at the passenger level.
  • That’s because government agencies do not like to criticise themselves or one another – and it is easier to get rid of a contractor than a poorly-performing civil servant.
  • Governments operate institutes for training the private security personnel – with the basic airport guard getting about 120 hours of training and an extra 256 hours in Belgium to be certified for higher levels of work.
  • In England, workers at the three major London airports start at a salary of $27,500, but can earn over $30,000 with overtime and bonuses – compared to $7 or $8 an hour in the U.S., with no health benefits.

    Airport security guards are looked upon – and regard themselves – as professionals in Europe and the level of job satisfaction is high.

    As a result, turnover in Belgium, for example, is 15 percent or less. Even the continent-wide average of below 50 percent is dramatically lower than in the U.S. – where turnover can range from 150 percent per year to as high as 400 percent.

    Source: Greg Schneider, Looking Abroad for Answers on Airport Security, Washington Post, October 9, 2001.

    For text http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29081-2001Oct9.html
    For more on Airport Security http://www.ncpa.org/pd/regulat/reg-1.html

    FMF\16 October 2001

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