After yet another story of sensless hassle on the airport I got my fingers moving and drafted a complaint to the britisch ministry of transport on their *@!^°°°*** useless security measures, like the “one piece of handluggage only” rule and that you have to take of your shoes - athlete’s foot here I come! Feel free to use this draft as a template for your own personal story of woe and send it to the general adress for complaints of the ministry: transec@dft.gsi.gov.uk or directly to the responsible politicians Dr. Stephen Ladyman (Minister) and/or Gillian Merron (Secretary for Aviation).

Dear Sir,

I hereby lodge a complaint against several security measures currently in effect at British Airports. There are several very sensible security measures, but the one specifying that you can carry one - and only one - piece of hand luggage is not one of them, especially the way it is executed.
How does it make air travel more secure if I have to squeeze my hand luggage in a plastic bag for the two meters through the security screening if it consists of more than one piece, no matter the size?
How does it make air travel more secure if I have to just open the zipper of my laptop case and stick my handbag in, again for the short way through the x-ray machine?
How does it prevent acts of terrorism if I can get on board a British Airways flight in Brussels with both my handbag and a briefcase, only to be told in transfer in Heathrow that I can’t travel on with them?
How can passengers perceive this security measure as anything but senseless hassle?

The next question concerns the necessity of removing my shoes for extra screening: Which dangerous non-metallic items can I possibly hide in pumps or thin leather soles that I cannot simply carry in one of my pockets?

I am aware that the regulation concerning the carrying of liquids is an EU wide regulation, so I will not complain about that to you although it is without doubt the most useless one.

I sincerely ask you to rethink parts of these regulations or at least take care that they are applied with a minimum of common sense.

Yours sincerely

and since I was already in the mood, another complaint, this time about the EU regulation concerning carrying of liquids; I hope I sent it to the right address: tren-aprights@ec.europa.eu

Dear Sir/dear Madam,

I hereby lodge a complaint against security measures currently in effect at European Airports. There are several very sensible security measures, but EU Regulation (EC NO 1546/2006) concerning carrying of liquids is not one of them.

How does it make air travel more secure if I have to throw away a bottle of mineral water only to be able to buy an identical bottle (amount and brand) a few meters after the security screening?
Do you really think, that providing personal data containing name, address and passport number provided before I board the plane and most likely be stored for who knows how long prevents terrorists from travelling around Europe? I do not need to fly to get to Spain, I can easily get there by car and so can a terrorist.
How can passengers perceive these security measure as anything but senseless hassle?

I cannot help but feel that the security measures in general are getting out of all proportion and that through these the passengers are held hostage by the very terrorism the security measures are trying to prevent. Many of the security measures simply do not make travel more secure but at most give passengers the feeling of being more secure.

And on top of it, every few months new and even more restrictive security measures appear, coming dangerously close to revoke essential personal liberties. I am convinced that none of these security measures is able to stop determined fanatics.

I sincerely ask you to rethink these regulations.
I would like to end my complaint with a quote usually appointed to Benjamin Franklin: “Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”.

Yours sincerely