Concerned United Airlines ramp and customer service employees at Denver International Airport are questioning whether the airport has followed proper security protocol for workers hired by United Express under-wing ramp services vendor Simplicity Ground Services.
“These workers, their badges have one name — they say ‘FNU’ for ‘first name unknown’ and then a last name, and I have no idea if they’ve been cleared or not,” said one United Airlines ramp employee who asked not to be identified because speaking to the media can result in being fired. “I’ve seen people roaming around without an escort. It violates public trust.”
Security badging is a multi-tiered process overseen by the airport in cooperation with the federal government, and all proper procedures — including background checks — have been followed with Simplicity, DIA spokeswoman Laura Coale said.
Full badging, including a 10-year federal background check, takes about seven to 10 days.
There are exceptions that will allow unbadged employees to access secure areas with an escort, allowing for new hires to get training under a “demonstrated-needs pass” for a defined period.
The escort program allows vendors or airline employees who have additional clearance to take up to six people onto the airfield, provided they keep an eye on their charges at all time.
This does not mean, however, that people are entering secure areas without any screening.
“In order to obtain a demonstrated needs pass from an airline, the individual must be cleared through an approved TSA security process,” Coale said. “Once they are cleared, they must go through a TSA screening checkpoint to gain access to the secure areas.”
That TSA checkpoint is similar to those passed through by travelers. It includes a security threat assessment that checks the person’s ID against federal databases each and every time they enter the airfield.
This arrangement isn’t ideal, Coale said, explaining that the airport prefers to have all employees fully badged.
“In these cases, airport security meets with each company conducting business to discuss the company’s responsibilities and expectations during the temporary training period,” she said. “The airport has been working closely with Simplicity and United to facilitate this process and provide them regular status updates for their employees.”
Simplicity would not provide staffing or hiring numbers for their operations at DIA, but spokesman Mickey Mandelbaum said 13 company employees from other airports are working at DIA.
These workers, Mandlebaum said, are fully-badged at their home airports. They would be issued demonstrated-needs passes, like the other temporary employees, Coale said.
Enforcement of the rules in many of DIA’s secure areas, including the tarmac, is handled by contractor HSS, Inc.
HSS officers have the authority to spot check badges and issue written violations, said Courtney Allen, the company’s government and security coordinator.
Allen is not surprised United employees have expressed concerns over unbadged employees, but she was quick to point out that’s not because Simplicity is doing anything wrong.
“Employees in secure areas are vigilant,” she said. “If you’re a badged employee, you’re taught to be on the lookout.”
Twenty violations have been issued to Simplicity employees at DIA since November, which is in line with the average number of overall violations written at the airport each month in 2014, Coale said.
“It (also) isn’t uncommon for new companies doing business at the airport to receive violation notices while they become more familiar with working in this secure environment,” Coale said.
Violations carry no fines, however they can result in revocation of a badge.
It’s been a rough few weeks at DIA for United Airlines, with massive luggage-handling snafus.
The airline will not say how many bags have been lost or misplaced, but multiple United ramp workers have told The Denver Post the number is close to 2,000 bags per day.
Much of this can be traced back to Dec. 4, when Simplicity took over luggage handling for many DIA United Express flights from SkyWest Airlines.
Workload on United union ramp workers also increased, as they took over many bag transfer responsibilities from SkyWest on Oct. 19.
Neither the airline nor Simplicity would comment on how many additional hands are on deck in Denver to handle the workload, but the airline said United mainline employees have been helping Simplicity.
“We are seeing good improvement,” United spokesman Charles Hobart said. “Baggage wait times in the claim area improve each day and are well within our standards. We’ve also seen considerable improvements in home baggage deliveries.”
Traveler Stacey Vinson has not seen her luggage since she checked it Jan. 1 at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. She passed through DIA on the way to Texas.
“We spent hours of what was supposed to be a relaxing family-filled weekend, making calls to United trying to arrange for our bags to come and when that failed, doing last minute shopping so that we could be properly dressed for the wedding,” she said. “I need the United staff in Denver to physically locate my bag!”
Laura Keeney: 303-954-1337, lkeeney@denverpost.com or
