The below guidelines are based off the current procedures for UK airports.
UK airports primarily have two areas for employees to work. Firstly 'landside'
where typically all airport staff undergo minor checks (if any) and are free to
work anywhere inside the terminals (before check-in) and surrounding airport properties.
Whilst the security checks are minimal, any airport applicant should undergo a basic
induction to become aware of the health & safety aspects of the airport, which is
a general induction usually decided by the airport authorities. Some airports/terminals will require landside employees to have a landside pass.
The second area for airport employees is the Restricted Zones (RZ), or referred
to as 'airside'. For any airport employee to work airside, they will without
exception only be allowed to access the areas with an official airside pass
allocated by the airport authorities. There are a number of different airside passes,
including temporary passes and full passes - see below.
It is difficult, if not impossible for an individual to apply for an airside pass,
as the airport authorities will only allow employers to submit applications. This
could be their own personnel department for their own employees, or authorised sub-contractors
supplying the airport who have been approved by the airport to submit airside pass applications.
Most airports have the option to provide temporary airside passes to individuals,
to help with any unexpected staff requirements on airside. There are a number of
different temporary passes, such as a 5-day pass, 30-day pass and visitors pass.
There is a limit on how many consecutive 5-day temporary passes the same person
applies for, and there is sometimes a statutory break required between each pass
that is issued - i.e. a person cannot work for 20 days non-stop by applying for
four 5-day temporary passes, as the ID Centre will not issue another pass unless
the expiry date of the last pass was over seven days old.
To apply for a temporary pass, the employer must complete the required temporary
pass application form. The employee then has to go to the airport ID Centre with
the paperwork and their identification such as their passport. No appointments are
usually necessary. For a 5-day temporary airside pass, no referencing details (or
GSAT/CRC - see below) are required. Once a person has received their temporary
airside pass, they will go onto the airport's database.
If a person is working airside with a temporary airside pass, they can only work
if they are accompanied by a full airside pass holder at all times. The
temporary pass will display 'Escorted'. If an employee is found anywhere in an airside
position working alone with a temporary airside pass they will be removed immediately
by security, and the employer will face harsh questioning by the airport authorities.
In such cases it has been known for the escorting member of staff who should have
accompanied the temporary pass worker to have their full pass taken away also, or
in extreme cases the employer will lose their rights with the airport ID Centre.
For a member of staff to acquire a full airside pass, where they can access certain
airside areas continuously and alone, they must provide referencing details for
the last five years.
References must be day specific - 'Jan 2010' will not be accepted. An employee should
provide a comprehensive list of exact dates, names, contact numbers etc. along with
type of reference (see below). It does not matter which country the references are
from, they have to be provided.
There must not be any unaccounted periods between each of the reference dates of
more than 28 days. If an unaccounted period is longer than 28 days, an additional
reference should be provided to cover this short period.
The five year period must cover the exact last 5 years, from today's date.
Once all the information has been received by the employer, they will write to each
referee using their paperwork asking for confirmation of the person and the relevant
dates. The referee will have to verify the information by replying on the official
form sent by the employer. If the reference is for any type of employment, the company
should also verify themselves as a genuine employer by providing a letterhead or
official company stamp. The referee must then return the completed form back to
the employer direct - any other method such as the employee collecting the reference
in person will void the reference. It is then the employer's responsibility to consider
the reference as acceptable.
A full airside pass is valid for five years, but if it is not used in any continuous
period of 60 days or more it will be de-activated.
Listed below are the types of referencing used in airports.
Employment Reference
Where a person has worked, either paid or unpaid. The reference must be completed
by an authorised person of the company. If the company is no longer trading, then
the individual should seek alternative referees to clarify their employment with
this entity, such as the accountant which was used, or official receiver etc.
Unemployment Reference
If a person was unemployed during a period, registered with an unemployment agency
(Job Centre etc.), this agency should provide the reference. Job Centres and benefits
offices do provide references on a regular basis to clarify individual dates.
Student/Education Reference
Where a person has been in full-time education as a student - school, college or
university.
Agency Reference
An agency reference should be completed whenever a person has worked for an employment
agency. Whilst an individual is usually employed by the employment agency, they
will have been assigned to work for different companies. The employment agency should
complete the names, dates and contact numbers of all assignments. The airport ID
centre will then confirm the employment with the agency, and will undertake random
checks on the companies to which the individual was assigned to.
Gap Reference
This type of reference is suitable for those individuals that had periods where
they were not employed by an employer or recruitment agency, and not registered
with any unemployment agency. For example housewives (or husbands), student gap
years or any holidays that exceeded 28 days. A Gap reference cannot be for more
than 12-months and cannot be completed by someone that is related to the person
being referenced. If a person was a housewife for three years, they will have to
provide 3 different references from 3 different, non-related referees. The referees
must be of a reliable source and in a position to verify the whereabouts of the
individual.
In addition to the above referencing, each individual may have to provide up to
two personal references. These must be supplied by people who have known the individual
for at least two years.
All full airside pass applicants will have to provide a
Criminal Disclosure (sometimes referred to as a CRC - criminal record certificate)
confirming they have not previously committed any serious crime. Criminal Disclosures
can be obtained (at cost) from Scotland CRB by the employer or individual. You will
typically require a 'Basic' Disclosure for most airport duties. View Disclosure
Scotland
Before a full airside pass can be considered, the airport authorities require all individuals to have
undertaken and passed a GSAT course (General Security Awareness Training). The GSAT
is a short course regarding the security of aviation, with a pass or fail test at
the end based on the content. The course and test can be completed online by the
individual (for a fee), or in some cases airport employers will have their own GSAT
training classes, held by an official trainer and normally free of charge. If an
individual passes the GSAT test, a certificate will be issued which should then
be submitted to the ID Centre along with the other documents.
The employer that submitted the airside pass application to the ID Centre will have
a list of authorised zones and locations depending on the work they carry out in
the airport. Even though an individual has been allocated a full pass they can only
access the specified airport, and certain zones on airside. Each full pass is colour coded
to state which areas are accessible, and very seldom does an employee get access
to all areas, unless they have bonafide reasons to do so.
In the case of a BAA airside pass, it can be activated for any of their airports,
as long as the employer is authorised by BAA to carry out duties in those locations.
A full airside pass can be activated for additional BAA airports after it has been
issued.
Each airside pass will carry the name of the employer, and the individuals name.
A person with an airside pass can only enter the restricted airside zones to carry
out duties for the employer that is stated on the pass, and it is not in any way
inter-changeable between companies. If an individual has an airside pass
and wants to change employer, the full process has to be repeated for the new employer.
Documents cannot be drip fed into the ID Centre as and when they arrive. All documents
must be collected by the employer and only submitted once they are all present.
The ID Centre will only accept applications along with all of the required documents
attached.
Once the ID Centre has received the application and the documents are complete,
they will start to contact (by telephone) each of the referee's to verify the information.
The ID Centre will only speak to the person who signed the reference, and will ask
for confirmation of the relevant dates. If any information given verbally by the referee does not
match the details on the reference form, the individual will be rejected.
Unfortunately, some of the documents have a limit on when they can be accepted.
A CRC certificate will have to be submitted to the ID Centre within 10 weeks of
it being issued, and the last, most recent reference (regardless of type) will have
to be submitted within 28 days of the date it was signed by the referee. The problem
arises when the most recent reference arrives eleven weeks after the CRC was issued.
A new CRC certificate must be applied for. When the new CRC arrives, the most recent
reference will be out of date. You should leave the most recent reference and CRC
towards the end of the process, and gauge the possible length of each one to determine
when they should be actioned.
A critical eye is placed on all paperwork by the ID Centre. They are experts in
what they do, day in day out, 12-months of the year. Any single reference completed
with two different hand writing styles, pen colour etc. will be rejected. The references
are considered in chronological order to ensure the exact whereabouts and activities
of the individual can be profiled, and again any strange blips will cause the whole
application to be void. For example, if a person has not worked for a considerable
time, and has not claimed any benefits, it is common for airport ID centres to ask how they supported
themselves financially.
Processing an individual for a full airside pass is a lengthy process, and even
then cannot guarantee that a person will be accepted by the airport authorities.
Collecting the exact referencing information from an individual to cover their last
five years takes time in the first place, then there's the waiting for referees
to respond (sometimes overseas). In our experience, any airport company should have
a regular pool of candidates being processed for an airside pass at any one time,
and always a third more than the employer thinks will be a suitable number - Unless
you have work immediately for the person, a lot can happen in the time it takes
to process a person and peoples circumstances change quickly.
An airside pass must only be used for the reasons it was issued. Should any employee
breach these regulations, the airside pass will be removed and the employer will
face serious questioning and possible loss of future airside pass applications.
The airports have numerous sophisticated measures in place to track and monitor
employees throughout the restricted zones - they know who you are, where you are,
and where you've just been.
The above airside pass guidelines only relate to general duties around the airport, including apron and limited aircraft access. There are certain areas of the airport that require a much higher level of security to access, such as control towers.
Most airport jobs are advertised as airside, and so a majority of employers will
suggest that all applicants have to already have an airside pass. There are a number
of reasons for this, mainly because a current pass holder will be able to start
as soon as their notice period finishes, whereas a non pass holder could take weeks,
even months to process and even then can't be guaranteed that they will be successful
with the ID Centre. Although this is perhaps unfair to those who want to start in
the airport who don't have a pass, companies do not always have the luxury of being
able to wait for a lengthy period of time for an applicant to be processed, accepted
by the ID Centre and then be ready to work.
We would suggest if an individual is desperate to work in the airport, look for
landside positions. If successful, whilst working try and persuade your employer
to process you for an airside pass. Once you have an airside pass, the job opportunities
will be endless.
Alternatively, apply for an airside job but send in your completed referencing dates
and addresses for the last five years.... make your application look more attractive
and easier to process than any other applicant who does not have an airside pass.
View free date checker to build your referencing history
to a level that will be accepted by the airports.
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