The UK government has “accelerated” the time taken for new aviation staff to pass security checks as part of its push to ease the disruption at airports this summer.
The effort to speed up security check processes is a key part of the government’s 22-point plan published last week to address aviation disruption. Airlines and airports have blamed the time taken for new employees to pass security checks as one of the key problems for the sector.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said national security vetting checks, which are required for all new aviation recruits, had now been accelerated, with accreditation checks being completed in an average of five days and counter terrorist checks taking less than 10 days, compared with an average of 20 days in March.
The government has also allowed employers to begin training new staff on some modules before their background checks have been completed.
The DfT stressed that all these measures to expedite security checks would not “compromise” security at airports.
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.
“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.”