20+ Secrets Airport Employees Don’t Share With Passengers

The most important thing for us, passengers, is to arrive at the airport without delay and hope that our suitcase is not lost, but for the airport staff the check in and security inspection are just the tip of the iceberg. From the moment you enter the airport until you board your flight, both travelers and their luggage are under constant control. All procedures performed before the flight represent a commitment to customers that there will be security and speed in the processing of passenger data.

we, from awesome.clubwe are dreamers and we want to believe that after a few years the formalities will be simplified and, with the help of new technologies, we will be able to board the plane directly from the street, without going through all these “inconveniences”.

The thermal imaging camera can detect, even in motion, a person who has a high body temperature.

With the help of a thermal scanner, it is possible to monitor body temperature to prevent passengers with fever or sick people from getting on board. This machine is particularly important during flu outbreaks. The device can detect the temperature of a person at a distance of up to 10 meters and with an accuracy of up to 0.1ºC. In some airports there are professionals specialized in assessing gestures, facial expressions and human behavior traits. Based on this, they can identify potential risk situations. Scanners designed to inspect citizens are absolutely safe. Hospital x-ray equipment produces about 600 microsieverts, and modern inspection scanners should not exceed 0.5 microsieverts. The salon’s security images are processed by a computer program capable of assessing people’s psycho-emotional state and converting the slightest movement into color indicators: very green — passenger is safe; redder — reason to stop it for inspection. The plastic trays in the inspection area are the dirtiest objects in the airport. Scientists have identified 10 different respiratory viruses in samples taken from such materials, including the influenza A virus (swine flu) and more than 100 pathogens. Baggy cargo-style pants with inside pockets, as well as long dresses and skirts, are considered the most suspect garments for security services and typically require additional inspection. Security will also be on the lookout for firearms of any kind, including toy guns, large amounts of cash, and your body language (if you’re sweating or nervous). Passengers with unusual, extravagant hairstyles or carefully styled hair will likely be called in for further inspection as there is a suspicion that an item may be hiding in their hair.

It is better to answer the questions: “Where are you going?”, “What are you taking with you?” and “What is the purpose of the trip?” — in the most informative and calm way possible.

If an employee, when looking at your passport and boarding pass, asks, “Where are you going?” — he’s not kidding. This is part of the behavior assessment, a verification method to identify suspicious people. If you react too rudely or with uncertainty, they will likely prompt you to ask additional questions. If you didn’t do anything illegal, but you were nervous about the situation, just be honest and tell the security guards. It is quite likely that they will be less suspicious once they understand why you are acting the way you are. In order not to attract the attention of the security service, it is best to avoid transparent hair clips. If there are too many clamps, the metal detector will react, as will large metal bracelets and necklaces. Suspicious people are sent for a special inspection with a scanner that literally shows everything, even the internal organs. Before, the system still created an anatomically detailed image, but now you don’t have to worry: modern devices only show foreign objects and hide unnecessary body features. If you are trying to take something that is not allowed, you will no longer be able to keep the item. The seized items are collected by the air security service. Some are discarded, others are auctioned. To avoid mistakes, security personnel typically change positions every 30 minutes. They never spend a lot of time scanning or verifying boarding passes, because if an employee stays in the same position for too long, doing the same monotonous activity, the probability of failure is greater. This exchange allows employees not to get bored and perform their duties in the best way. Security officials not only use official codes to communicate with each other, they also invent their own codewords. For example, they might say that some passenger is attractive by saying the words “hotel daddy” or some other specific, random word. They can also warn about annoying passengers using innocent terms. When passing through passport control, the security officer can stamp your boarding pass to inform staff of the next steps that you will need to undergo an additional inspection.

The orange color represents fabrics and water; green — metal objects; the blue — electronic devices.

Luggage and carry-on bags are checked using X-ray machines, which, by the way, cannot identify objects wrapped in aluminum foil. Aluminum foil blocks electromagnetic waves and therefore appears only as a black dot on the controller’s display. You’ll probably be asked to open the suitcase to check what’s inside. The sniffer animals that work at the airport are a kind of canine special forces, as they have the most difficult working conditions: huge numbers of people, constant noise and mixture of smells. These dogs are not only looking for illegal substances, but also large blocks of cash and animal products, which may be smuggling. A dog that suspects something is wrong will not bark very loudly, scaring off the would-be criminal. They use specific body language, for example wagging their tail to indicate some threat. When the suspect is then detected, the trainers have time to make the signal without drawing too much attention to the potential danger. At the end of a flight inspection, the dog needs to be encouraged in some way. This is done by placing a special training bag in which it contains a substance that mimics the smell of illegal substances. When the dog finds her, he gets his favorite toy. This is necessary so that the dog does not lose interest in work. It is very important for airport security services that the dog is always in good shape. For this, a person with a scent mimic is wandering around the airport. If the dog smells something suspicious, she sends the signal to the handler.

While you wait in the waiting room, your luggage is transported at great speed on a huge conveyor belt where automatic sorting will take place. In large airports, the length of this conveyor belt reaches 3 km.

During the luggage scan, the security service will open the coffee bags: this is a great way to mask the smell of illegal substances. If you plan to fly with unusually shaped objects, for example a stapler or large candlesticks, they will definitely look suspicious during inspection. Every time, employees stick stickers on bags with a unique barcode. If you keep the sticker from a previous flight, there is a chance that your bag will get lost. The system is capable of distributing your bag to hundreds of planes and, if the code is read wrong, your bag can easily be sent to another destination. By the way, it is less and less common to have the suitcase lost. According to data from the company SITA, an international IT provider, which is responsible for monitoring the transport of air luggage, the total number of lost bags decreased from 46.9 million in 2007 to 24.8 million in 2018. This happened while the Passenger numbers increased by almost two-fold.

If your suitcase looks suspicious, it will likely be opened and will have a special sticker pasted on it indicating that your suitcase has undergone further inspection.

Your luggage will be scanned by an introscope before boarding the plane. Suspicious bags will undergo 4 additional checks, including CT scans and diffraction units. Often, despite modern devices, the carry-on bag is manually inspected by people. This is due to the fact that many substances are difficult to distinguish using the scanner alone. For example, birthday cards with built-in music can sound like they’re bombs from the scanner; honey or large pieces of cheese may look like liquid explosive substances. Porters place up to 125,000 bags on board each year. In their opinion, the most likely cause of lost luggage is late arrival at the airport. It won’t take you more than 30 minutes to get checked through security, but bag inspection can take longer and they might not get on the plane.

If you are sure you want to carry heavy luggage or you simply have no choice, leave a tag indicating the weight of the suitcase for the porters: it is not difficult for you, and for them it will be very useful.

The most irritating thing for airport porters is suitcases full of stuff. Often, during transport, the zippers can burst and things will be scattered all over the place. Worse than that, just the liquids in the side pockets. They can get crushed and start to leak, spilling the contents into the other bags. Baggage with easy-grip handles is more likely to hold together. Ideally, the handles should be located at the top and bottom of the suitcase. Such bags are placed first in the luggage compartment. Another way to keep your suitcase whole while traveling is not to make it too heavy. It’s better to take two smaller suitcases than one big, heavy one. Most luggage that suffers damage during transit weighs more than 20 kg.

Different professionals work in the control tower: a ground traffic controller on the runway and a landing and takeoff controller, which monitors the spaces between the runway and the surroundings. Each has its area of ​​focus. For…