Turnaround of Aviation Security Checks Halved Since March
Government ministers have reported that security vetting for new aviation staff is now being completed on average in ten days or less. This means the speed of the checks has doubled since March when checks were taking just over 20 days.
Commenting on the reduction in turnaround times, Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, said:
These statistics demonstrate how the government is doing its bit to help deliver for passengers; now the industry must fulfil its responsibilities.
People have made huge sacrifices during the pandemic and deserve their flights to run on time, without complications, and without being cancelled last minute. While this is a challenging time for the sector, it is not acceptable for the current disruption to continue as we head into the summer peak. The public deserves to know now whether or not their flight will run over the summer, and so I reiterate my call for the industry to commit to deliver the flights they have scheduled, or to cancel them well in advance so people can make other arrangements.
Building on our 22-point plan to help the industry minimise disruption, we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure this summer is a great success for the British public.
Despite this positive news, the aviation industry is still struggling with a recruitment crisis. Even though coronavirus restrictions were eased back in March, the aviation industry has still not recovered enough to meet demand.
Budget airline EasyJet have reportedly been cancelling between 30-60 flights a day, with many cancellations happening just hours before take-off.
The government have been called upon to do more to assist the industry through this crisis.
Government Assistance
The government recently announced their 22-point plan for supporting the aviation industry. This includes a range of tactics for tackling the industry problems. For example:
Launching a £700,000 skills funding competition to support outreach across and raise awareness of aviation careers to young people.
Supporting commercial airports and ground operators with £161 million in grants.
Promoting aviation careers via job centres.
Establishing a joint Home Office and DfT Ministerial Border Group to identify and prepare for high levels of demand at the UK border.
Undertaking a review of the ground handling market to seek out opportunities to improve quality and consistency of service.
One of the key points, which has contributed to the increased speed of recruitment is:
“We changed the law so industry has more flexibility to train staff and allow them to deploy staff quickly and flexibly while maintaining security standards.
Under the changed guidance, new recruits to the industry can being their training before all their background checks are completed. Previously, all checks had to be completed before any training could begin.
What checks are carried out?
The types of background check can vary slightly between airports. However, the most common checks aviation staff undergo are:
A Security Interview to find out details of your activities over the past 2/5 years.
Contacting your referees for your employment/education history
Evidencing your activities for any periods not in employment or education.
A Basic Criminal Record Check by DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service)
A Counter Terrorism Check (For select roles only)
Pre-pandemic, these checks took an average of around 30 days. The fact that the checks are now being conducted up to 300% faster shows how seriously the government are taking the issue.