The reason that that idea would not work, is because the airport police officer are often times good friends with all of the agents around the airport, or, at least, they were at the airport I worked at. They were often times bored, and were glad when we called, as it gave them something to do, other than walking around, or sitting at a security point.
Also, there would really be no way that the police could prove that the agent did not feel threatened, when s/he called the police. They may have found that the person was not a threat that needed to immediately removed, but it still doesn't mean the agent didn't feel threatened by the person, in some way.
As to the original poster. Just keep in mind that customer service agents have no control over delays, etc. Give them a break, and realize that, post 9/11, it is better to keep one's mouth shut, in an airport, than risk being arrested.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy Slept Here
If the airlines had to face the same penalties the owners of faulty burglar alarm systems face, then these types of police calls would drop sharply.
Many cities will allow the owners of burglar alarms to have a certain number of "false" calls, over a given period of time, without charge. Once the "free" allowance has been used, additional "false" calls subject the owner to a service charge for each call.
Airport police departments could assign airlines a number of "free" security calls based on, say, 5% of the total number of passengers the given airline boarded in the past six months. "False," or bogus, calls exceeding the "free" allowance would be charged, to the airline, at $500 a call.
Mr. Blanchard's case is a prime example of how US-based airlines are using airport police departments as customer service staff. With Spirit Air being the first US-based airline to dismantle its customer service department, it will be interesting to see how many bogus calls the Fort Lauderdale Airport police—Spirit Air’s home base—will tolerate before Spirit starts having to pay costs to the police.
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