Browsing Posts tagged ID
The airline industry seems to be very strict on its rules and regulations in their “effort” to help prevent terrorism. Easyjet, for example, requires all passengers to present photo ID on all their flights. Sounds typical, except for one caveat. If you have forgotten your ID, Easyjet will helpfully show you how to get your hands on a new photo ID in a matter of minutes.
“They suggested I go to the railway station within the terminal, buy a season ticket and with it get a photocard, which they’d then accept as ID,” Wilson said. “In fact, it was even easier and didn’t cost a penny. Southern Rail gave me a photocard and sent me upstairs to the public photo booth. I asked if I needed to come back to the ticket office with the photos; they said, no, I should just fill in the card myself then seal down the plastic covering.”
Easyjet accepted the DIY identity without question. Wilson added: “Of course I was glad to get the flight but I couldn’t believe it – what’s the point of Easyjet asking for photo ID if you can get it done like this, and their staff even tell you how to do it? Obviously it was only a domestic flight, but then so were all the planes hijacked on 9/11.”
Obviously. So, what’s the point of requiring photo ID when you can just pop around the corner and create a new one? How is anyone to know if you really are the person on the ticket?
A spokesman for the airline said the requirement for photo ID was introduced to enhance security after the attacks on New York but that rail photocards are acceptable on domestic flights (even though they are not listed as such on the airline’s website). “Check-in staff also have extensive training in assessing whether a passenger is a security risk,” the spokesman said.
If the staff has had extensive training in assessing whether someone is a security risk, then why require a photo ID that doesn’t even have to match the person on the ticket?
This is a fantastic example of security theater. No need to fret. I’m sure someone in the government is really protecting you.
