After much deliberation I thought this would be the best forum in which to post this information. I have no
sources to cite because this (as to my knowledge and for good reason) has not been covered by the media.
I made a reference to this some time ago in a thread by another member that received few flags and was quickly buried. With the security charade at
the airports getting worse every month, and witnessing the rapid decline of the public's willingness to question this ridiculous theater that is
nothing but a horrible degrading hassle that makes no-one safer I decided this topic needed a thread of it's own. Here's the meat of it:
As recently as three months ago a person I know well was still working at the Mpls-St. Paul Intl. airport doing
the same part time work she has been doing for a few years. As a supplement to her other her job she cleans planes at night with a large crew. I fly
quite a bit and was getting really disgusted with the state of affairs
and I asked her "Has anything changed at the airport?" She replied "No."
What I am referring to is the absurd irony that the passengers must undergo repeated harassment and in many cases horrible indignities to pass through
security whilst those employed to clean the planes (especially the night crew) have almost complete unsupervised access to every inch of the inside of
the plane. What supervision there is deals almost entirely with HR crap and has nothing to do with what does or may be transpiring on the plane each
of us may be flying on the next day. I posed a few questions to her and here are the responses:
"Do you or any of the cleaning crew go through a security checkpoint when coming on to your shift?"
"No."
"Did you receive a background check prior to hire?'"
"Yes, but nothing really extensive. The one at the post office is much more thorough. Compared to theirs I would rate this as a 3 or 4."
"Are there any cameras around the actual workspace inside the plane and/or are you closely supervised?"
"No cameras. Sometimes a supervisor will come on to settle a dispute about who cleans the bathroom and who vacuums the seats. They really only deal
with mundane ridiculous arguments and scheduling problems. Security is so far out of the picture it isn't even an afterthought."
"Are you required to check in and out at any sort of checkpoint?"
"I have a plastic badge that I need to show in order to drive into the employee lot but I don't ever get out of the car and I can bring any backpack
on to the plane with me and it is never searched."
"Why do you bring a backpack?"
"To change my clothes and shoes, because sometimes there are body fluids and crusty who knows what that need to be cleaned and I'm not getting a
strangers nasty germs all over my clothes and car."
"Do most people on your crew carry bags onto the planes?"
"Almost every worker on every crew has a bag to bring with them. Some of them work full time so they at least need food and water because it's not
like there is a catering service pulling up to the plane at breaktimes or anything. I am not worried about this because the plane obviously isn't
going anywhere while I'm cleaning it, security is NOT my job, and if the airlines couldn't care less why should I? It's plainly obvious to me that
security inside the airport isn't saving lives or foiling any so-called plots. If someone asked to search my bag I would let them because I have
nothing to hide and I don't care if they search anyone else on my crew because chances are they would find nothing there either. I've worked here for
over a year and my bag has never been serched or scanned or whatever and I really didn't think about any of this until you asked me. Wow..... the
security that passengers go through seems even more pointless than it did before. "
"Let me pose a hypothetical question. If you decided to bring,say, a firearm onto a plane and leave it somewhere for someone to use later do you think
you would be caught? What if the entire crew banded together and put handguns/bombs or really anything that could fit in a backpack in various
places throughout the plane, would you be caught? "
"Eventually I probably would be but by then it wouldn't matter, would it? If I acted singly it would be difficult to know exactly which one of us did
it , because there is no security to begin with really. As a group effort I'm sure someone would crack and obviously I would be caught. If I were to
even consider doing something like that I think I would have to be in a mental state of mind where the objective is getting whatever it is I need to
get on the plane ON THE PLANE. I would already know that I would be caught most likely and like I already said it would be too late. Why would I care
about anything after that? I really don't like talking about this because I'm supposed to be going on vacation soon and you are freaking me out a
little.(nervous laugh)
I guess I'm used to having these philosophical/hypothetical talks with you anyway so it's not a big deal. "
"I apologize for that but if you have been on a plane recently it's absolutely ridiculous. I want people to be safe but personally it's more of a
hassle and I thought it was odd that none of the cleaning crew are ever made to endure what a passenger who has paid money for a seat must go through.
Rationally and logically it makes no sense to me. I am in no way advocating that you guys need to suffer because everyone else must. What nags at me
is that I know these body scans and removing my shoes and the liquid limitations are a major pain in my neck. It makes me feel as if this whole thing
is for an entirely different reason and people are allowed their own opinions but if you've paid attention these changes weren't made all at once, but
in increments. If that doesn't set off alarm bells in one's head I don't imagine it could contain a brain---but I'm wrong about that so who knows? In
short I think this is some majorly f'd up BS!"
"I'll call you after vacation and let you know what I think. I haven't been on a plane in 15 years so who knows? Maybe I will start analyzing this a
bit closer.."
"Yes please do. Do you think you could bring me onto the lot sometime so I could get some footage and a few pics?"
"If I didn't need this job I would say please do and I'm pretty sure it would be even easier than you think but how could we explain that if I was
caught? "
"You make a good point, but I bet the first person you get in touch with is me when you get home. You have to see this madness to believe it."
END OF CONVERSATION
You can call this hearsay,etc. but it is the absolute reality of the situation. As for getting a straight answer from the airlines , I wouldn't count
on it. If any of you ATS folks know of someone with a similar job or work a similar job please contribute to this thread. I would love to hear your
stories. The more recent the better, but ALL are welcome. Nothing in this country will change without the courage to opt out and not put up with the
fascist regime encroaching on our families and on the future of our children. The situation at the airports is but one tiny tentacle of this slimy
octopus, but an important one because we are slowly being stripped of our ability to travel. In my opinion this is a key element.
Thank You All
edit on 6-11-2013 by Gemwolf because: Removed all caps title
edit on 11/6/2013 by semperfortis because: corrected all
CAPS