Specialized aviation security training and good communication help keep flight schedules running smoothly at Berlin’s Tegel Airport – without compromising security.
The need to comply with and stay up to date on multiple sets of overlapping regulations – plus the regulations of the security industry itself – as they are continually strengthened, is one reason why aviation security has become a highly specialized field with dedicated security forces.
Each airline works according to international civil aviation rules, the local country’s regulations and the regulations of its home country. For example, UK regulations require additional security for British airlines. Two security officers from Securitas therefore check ID badges and examine the equipment brought on board every British Airways’ aircraft.
“We have to comply with national laws and regulations as well as British ones, and the latter require special access control while flights are on the ground,” explains Werner Dudeck, CLC Hub Manager for British Airways. “At Tegel airport, we use Securitas for this dedicated service. Crew and ground staff are screened at a different checkpoint at the airport.”
Extensive know-how, testing and pressure
Meanwhile, at the baggage screening area, the staff is constantly under pressure from passengers in a hurry to make their flights and airlines in a hurry to meet their take-off slots. To handle the challenges, security officers have to have extensive technological know-how as well as be service-minded, well-screened and extensively trained. So stringent are the standards and training that only one in 10 applicants makes the grade.
Adding to the pressure, undercover police officers from the Federal Police regularly try to smuggle prohibited and dangerous items on board at security screening checkpoints to ensure that security officers’ skills remain sharp and that they are not dealing with the time pressure by cutting corners. “The checks are randomly executed – one week we might have two on the same day and then maybe nothing for weeks,” confirms Captain Sandra Pfeifer of the Federal Police at Tegel airport.
Security shares responsibility with police
The German Federal Police’s area of responsibility is the border of the country. In the case of an airport, that means the whole physical location. They are responsible for preventing security breaches on the premises and are also ultimately responsible for making sure that all aircraft leave the airport securely. They patrol the airport premises, oversee the security checkpoints and work closely with the security provider, in this case, Securitas.
To continuously enhance performance, Securitas and the Federal Police jointly perform monthly quality assessments. “We have good and creative discussions,” says Pfeifer, whose 270 federal police officers work with 950 Securitas security officers. “The single most important factor for our security operations here at Tegel is the contact between my staff and Securitas staff. I am confident that the Securitas team is quite capable,” says Pfeifer.
Although Securitas is responsible for screening, security officers call for assistance from the police when an incident occurs. This sets in motion a well-specified, well-rehearsed sequence of actions that Captain Pfeifer oversees from a central monitoring center. “When one of the security personnel pushes the alarm button, the surveillance camera starts recording, two federal police officers are dispatched and that gate is closed for inspection,” she explains.
In one such incident, the belt has stopped, two federal police officers have arrived and the security officers explain the situation. They have discovered something suspicious in a bag on the x-ray screen. After conferring for a minute, they call in one of the bomb-sniffing dogs. After being cleared by the dog, the bag is opened by the federal police and the item found: a talking doll. “This is very common,” Pfeifer says. “A battery pack inside sometimes looks just like a detonator device.”
The time between the initial alarm and final resolution: six minutes. The flight will be able to leave on schedule.
That’s important, since a delay at the gate can translate into a missed take-off slot, which in turn can lead to a missed landing slot and thousands of dollars in jet fuel wasted by circling an airport. If the delay is long enough, there are additional costs to the airline in rebooked flights for missed connections – and very angry passengers.
Nevertheless, security is always a priority, no matter what the pressure. “For us here at Tegel, safety comes first, time second,” Pfeifer says. “However, we are very aware that every minute counts."