Discrimination on Boarding / Additional Travel ID

eDicky

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Do you go through immigration checks when departing Nantes?

For passengers embarking flights between Schengen countries there is no passport control, but those embarking on flights from a Schengen country to a non-Schengen country have to pass through border control and have their passport or other travel document checked by the relevant frontier police / immigration officials. Therefore passengers on the flight from Nantes to LGW would pass through border control and have their travel document checked by the Police aux frontièrs.

Nevertheless, as Phatbear emphasises, the airline involved can be penalised for carrying any passenger who turns out to be improperly documented or otherwise ineligible to enter the destination country, and would also be held responsible for returning them to point of origin or elsewhere.

One would think that the EasyJet staff at the Nantes boarding gate could in general rely on the passport checks already carried out on their passengers, which obviously they normally do. But in this case the OP was singled out as a doubtful case, and I can understand his/her consternation that an airline employee apparently has more responsibility and supposed skill than the official border police in detecting and confronting a potential 'illegal'. It's possible that the staff member was particularly alert for some reason, such as having been reprimanded for being on duty when somebody slipped through previously. Or maybe they just had a bad day and wanted to take it out on someone. Also the OP is upset by apparently being singled out as a likely case because of discrimination or racial or religious profiling etc, which is also understandable, but I think it should be seen more as a practical selection of candidates for additional check - if it was the same for everyone a flight would never depart on time.

Arriving at Stansted a few weeks ago the officer examining my passport asked me, for some reason, if I had any additional ID - I was very surprised. I had nothing with a photo, but I instantly reached for my wallet. Seeing that he immediately relented and handed me back my passport with a smile.

Anyway, and excuse the long post - I don't think that anyone, including the OP, should be making extreme or harsh judgements in a case like this - everything is relative...

Voyager2002

AlphaQ wrote: »

Finally, just because the other "irrelevant info cannot be proved" does not mean that inappropriate staff behavior should go unnoticed, or would you suggest that we ignore bad customer service?

This is the key point...

You were in fact allowed to travel and so it is very difficult to put a cash value on your experience, meaning that it is difficult to ask the airline to take any action. What is important is that an official was rude to you, to a degree that you regard as unacceptable. The most that you could reasonably hope to happen would be for the airline to apologise and to promise to retrain the individual.

shaun_from_Africa

eDicky wrote: »

but those embarking on flights from a Schengen country to a non-Schengen country have to pass through border control and have their passport or other travel document checked by the relevant frontier police

That was the earlier point that I was querying.
Of all the flights I have made from France and Belgium (both of which are Schengen countries) to the UK, not once has my passport ever been checked by border control in the country of departure, nor has it ever been checked by UKBA staff when leaving the UK.

The only checks carried out at the airport have been by airline staff but I know that personal details of all passengers is available for border control and security agency checks prior to the flight departing.

To be honest, with all of the problems in France and its neighbouring countries over the Christmas and New year period, I don't blame the airlines for being extra vigilant and if this causes a bit of extra stress or hardship for some then the people affected should blame those who are the root cause of this extra security and not the airline staff who are simply doing their jobs and trying to keep everyone safe.

phatbear

AlphaQ wrote: »

I however cannot agree with this 2nd document idea:
- If additional documents can / are required for security checks then passengers should be warned in advance and provided with a list of acceptable docs.
- If Border Security / Force deems a passport to be a valid travel document (using all their fancy equipment, computers etc) - is boarding gate staff qualified enough to second guess that judgement?

You may not agree with it but oddly you provided it, and if you had done so without probably causing a scene then maybe you wouldn't have felt the need to post on here about your "denied boarding".

At the gate is the final bite of the cherry for gate staff to ensure the passenger, ie you, are properly documented. For example embarkation immigration officers are unlikely to know the visa requirements for a national of say nigeria going to the UK, they have no interest as its not for them to worry about such things however the airline/gate staff need to know as they will be the ones who get the fine, and probably a reprimand from their bosses if they allow incorrectly documented people to arrive in the UK.

You ask are "boarding gate staff qualified enough to second guess their judgement" well something you seem to over look is, despite you having a valid ticket, passport, and secondary i.d the airline are not legally obliged to take you anywhere they could refuse you boarding for any reason, in recent history i have seen people removed from aircraft for a multitude of reasons. So even though you think they may not be qualified enough you have to satisfy them that you should be allowed on their plane, you have no divine right to board it.

AlphaQ wrote: »

Finally, just because the other "irrelevant info cannot be proved" does not mean that inappropriate staff behavior should go unnoticed, or would you suggest that we ignore bad customer service?

You are quite correct bad customer service should not be ignored but it comes down to a burden of proof that you were treated in any other way than in a professional manner. Oddly you mention that you feel you were being discriminated against because of your race/name etc etc which makes me wonder if you mentioned this when being asked for another piece of i.d. If so, and having been accused of the same thing on hundreds, if not thousands of occasions, then i can understand how the gate staffs attitude towards you may have been somewhat sharp, especially as they have such a short window to board passengers and if you suddenly get one passenger who decides to throw his toys out of the pram due to a simple request.

Email easyjet, tell the Daily Mail, write to points of view (is that still on tv?), go head to head with the gate staff on a jeremy kyle then come back and tell us how you got on.

phatbear

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Of all the flights I have made from France and Belgium (both of which are Schengen countries) to the UK, not once has my passport ever been checked by border control in the country of departure, nor has it ever been checked by UKBA staff when leaving the UK.

This year i have been to three schengen countries and in two of those when i left to go back home i had my passport checked by immigration officers in their booths prior to entering the area where non schengen were departing.


And i have had my passport checked leaving the country recently by Border Force, who ceased to be UKBA quite some time ago.

phatbear

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

That was the earlier point that I was querying.
Of all the flights I have made from France and Belgium (both of which are Schengen countries) to the UK, not once has my passport ever been checked by border control in the country of departure, nor has it ever been checked by UKBA staff when leaving the UK.

The only checks carried out at the airport have been by airline staff but I know that personal details of all passengers is available for border control and security agency checks prior to the flight departing.

Madrid airport outbound:

http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-Madrid-Barajas/en/Page/1237565036782/#Passport%20Control

Passport Control Top

If the destination of your flight is a non-Schengen country, you must go through document control.
The basic travel document is a passport, although you can travel to some countries with a National ID card (DNI). Some countries also require a visa, vaccination certificate, passport valid for 6 months after the date of arrival, etc. Please ask your airline company.

phatbear

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

That was the earlier point that I was querying.
Of all the flights I have made from France and Belgium (both of which are Schengen countries) to the UK

Gothenburg airport:

The International Terminal has four air bridges with gates 15-17, 18A-H, 19A-B & 20A-B, and remote Gates 21A-B and 21C-D for airside bus transfer. Non-Schengen passengers need to pass strict passport control before proceeding to non-Schengen gates 20A-21D, while gate 19 can serve either Schengen/non-Schengen. Gates 16-18 are exclusively for Schengen traffic.

Oddly stockholm have recently, in the past year, relaxed this and you no longer have to go through immigration control outbound

Archergirl

I am very sorry if I offend anyone and I expect to be slated but in these times I think there must be racial profiling ........

phatbear

Archergirl wrote: »

I am very sorry if I offend anyone and I expect to be slated but in these times I think there must be racial profiling ........

And what would that profile be?

Archergirl

I have no idea, the OP mentioned it.
But if it was blonde people with glasses I would be happy to comply.