Vetting luggage on corporate jets
Security on private aircraft is frequently relatively low on the food chain. While we are often horrified at the poor security protection given corporate aircraft, particularly when not at its home airport, today we are concerned with the issue of luggage.
Luggage on corporate jets presents an interesting problem. On the one hand, passengers are generally in the trusted category. On the other hand, because of the nature of the clientele, we sometimes keep less-good track of what luggage belongs to whom, and it has not been uncommon to find luggage on board which doesn’t actually belong to any of the passengers. This is not good. In fact, it is bad.
While you might think it is bad because it might be a bomb, this is not our primary concern in this article. Rather, our primary concern is that if luggage or a package not belonging to a passenger ends up on board (intended to be picked up by ground crew at the destination), and if it contains some sort of contraband, and if it is discovered by customs at the destination, you will have two sets of problems.
First, you – and possibly your client – will have to deal with the actual issue with customs and local law enforcement, something that will probably not sit well with your client. Second, you will be forever marked in the computer as needing a higher level of inspection, and will suffer unnecessary hassle on your every trip, something that will probably not sit well with your client.
Obviously, you cannot, in the normal course of events, search the luggage of your passengers. You can, however, identify every piece of luggage and make sure you know to whom it belongs. If you have a piece of luggage that nobody on board claims as their own, it should be turned over to the police or left at the departing airport. Either way, it shouldn’t go with you.
