No passengers missed flights since new security measures implemented, says DAA

The authority which runs Dublin Airport has said that since it rolled out new measures aimed at tackling long delays at security screening none of roughly 300,000 passengers have missed a flight as a result of bottlenecks.

On Wednesday evening the DAA published a five-point plan for dealing with delays in the run-up to Easter and said measures already rolled had resolved some of the issues.

Delays of up to three hours at security towards the end of last month led to many people missing flights but according to the authority no passengers who flew out of Dublin Airport since March 27th having missed a flight due to security queues.

A shortage of security screening staff was behind the delays and the DAA said it had called 250 people for job interviews in the area and deployed additional resources in its HR team “to help expedite the interview process and the selection of candidates”.

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The authority said it was also exploring other options to increase security staff numbers, including identifying former security screeners still employed by daa but now in different roles and reaching out to those currently on career breaks, to “ascertain their interest in reverting to security duties in the short term”.

The authority has also temporarily re-assigned Cork-based security staff to Dublin to assist operations there.

The DAA said it had also updated its pre-travel advisory information and is now telling people to allow up to three and a half hours before departure and will roll out an advertising campaign “to further amplify this message”.

“The core message of this campaign is that anyone travelling through Dublin Airport in the coming days and weeks should be prepared for things to take longer than they might expect,” the DAA said in a statement.

It is also keeping security open 24-hours-a-day in Terminal 1, to reduce the build-up of queues in advance of early morning departures when the airport is at its busiest and halted the sale of Fasttrack passes through its channels “to keep a singular focus on the screening process but continues to honour all bookings already made”.

A review of the layouts of existing security lanes has been carried out with additional equipment provided to improve passenger throughput.

The Oireachtas Committee on Transport welcomed the five point plan but said it still had “serious questions in relation to the recruitment process”.

It said it was concerned about the nature of the employment contract terms on offer and said they were “proving to be a major constraint on recruitment of the 300 security checking staff required as a matter of urgency”.

Last week the committee questioned the DAA about the pay rates it was offering, which were in the €14-€21 per hour range. It also emerged that it was seeking security staff to be available for 40 hours per week but they were only being guaranteed 20 hours’ work with a minimum weekly salary of €283.