Passenger Terminal Today - Elizabeth Baker
The UK government has begun to accelerate national security vetting checks for prospective aviation staff to help meet the surge in demand for flights.
The government has introduced a range of measures to help process security checks as quickly as possible, resulting in about 97% of accreditation checks being completed in around five days on average, with counter-terrorist checks (CTC) in the aviation sector being processed in under 10 days on average. This is a reduction from the 20-day average turnaround for CTC checks in March 2022, before the priority measures for aviation sector applications were introduced.
To speed up the onboarding process, the government has also provided flexibility for employers to begin training new staff on certain modules while their background checks are ongoing, and is permitting HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) employment history letters to be used as suitable forms of reference check.
