Current and former airport screening officers say systemic issues such as high turnover, an influx of new hires, poor management and a “toxic” work culture among some teams could explain why some passengers see unprofessional behaviour at security checkpoints at Canadian airports including Ottawa’s.
The workers shared their perspectives after CBC News reported last month on 138 passenger complaints submitted to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) regarding the screening process at the Ottawa International Airport between January 2023 and May 2024.
Unprofessional behaviour by screening officers topped the list of concerns, with travellers using phrases such as “truly appalling,” “threatening,” “insensitive” and “absolute power trip” to describe their treatment.
“The concerns raised really resonated with me,” said Sean Coombs, a former screening officer at the Ottawa airport. “While I felt sad … it’s the truth and I’m glad that it’s now out there.”
The attitude was a very sit down and shut up.– Joie Osmond, former screening officer
CATSA said those complaints represent a tiny fraction of the 2.9 million passengers screened at the airport during that time frame.
CBC has since received dozens of emails from passengers who said they never formally complained about negative experiences at airport security.
Several current and former managers and screening officers from across Canada also shared their experiences with CBC. Some agreed they’re seeing unprofessional behaviour from colleagues toward travellers and even peers.
Workers noted a shift in the work environment and training standards, especially after mass layoffs of screening workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and a recent mass hiring to meet air travel demand.
They pointed to systemic issues fuelled by what they called poor management, and said most officers are trying to do their best.
“They’re all working very hard … but they’re just being limited and demoralized by the management and by the stressful and unfair workplace,” said Coombs. “They’re not to blame.”
“This is an extremely high-pressure environment, and the way that we conduct our business does not make it any better,” another former worker, Joie Osmond, said.
“Please give us a little bit of grace, but please don’t hesitate to speak up if you feel like you’re being violated.”
GardaWorld is hired by CATSA to staff and manage airport security checkpoints in several provinces under its latest five-year, $2.7-billion contract.
The company told CBC News it “disagrees with the characterization of its management approach.”
A ‘revolving door’
Coombs worked at the Ottawa airport for five months last year. His desire to pursue a career in aviation motivated him to apply.
But that dream was quickly “shattered,” Coombs explained.
He said officers were overworked and the screening area was understaffed at times. Shifts changed suddenly and breaks were often missed while Garda’s bureaucratic management structure created a “toxic” and “chaotic” work environment, he said.
“There was just a prevailing attitude that management didn’t care about the screening officers,” Coombs said.
Current and former screening officers say systemic issues they face may affect how travellers experience security checkpoints. The CBC’s Priscilla Ki Sun Hwang spoke with some former Ottawa airport workers on their thoughts on passenger complaints.
Newer hires were “thrown in” after a few weeks of intense and detailed CATSA training, and were largely expected to learn on the job, he said.
“It felt very sudden for me … very rushed,” he said. “There’s just a lot of room for errors.”
Coombs said he saw inconsistencies in pat-downs, and improper searches and handling of medical and religious items daily.
He believed the hiring and training process was designed so “everybody would pass.” Nor were there enough mentors on hand during shifts, he added.
“If you’re surrounded by new recruits and there’s nobody around to guide you, you can just make up regulations on your own and make up excuses,” he said.
As of Wednesday, Garda’s website listed screening officer jobs available in 33 Canadian cities.
“It really is a revolving door,” said Coombs. “They don’t retain experienced staff that can prevent customer service errors from happening.”
Another former officer said it’s not only passengers who were on the receiving end of unprofessional conduct.
“I witnessed colleagues do inappropriate pat-downs to other colleagues and then pass it off as jokes,” said Osmond, who left the job in April after a year at the Ottawa airport. “It was blatant sexual harassment.”
Osmond said they’ve received verbal abuse from colleagues who were insensitive to 2SLGBTQ+ passengers and peers, and complained several times. Those workers were “very, very rarely” held accountable, they said.
“I was called names,” Osmond said. “It felt like hitting a wall because no matter how many times I went to upper management, or spoke to HR … the people responsible never had any consequences.”
But Osmond said the most serious problem they encountered was a lack of communication from management.
“Things were not being communicated to us clearly, then we were unintentionally misinforming passengers,” they said, giving an example of changing interpretations around how certain items such as ice skates should be handled.
“The attitude was a very sit down and shut up,'” Osmond said.
Experiences vary by shift, says worker
Gemma Gibson worked at the Ottawa airport from 2022 until March, and said it was “disheartening” to read about passenger complaints.
“We’re just following procedures,” explained Gibson. “We’re just doing our job.”
As one of the first openly transgender screening officers at the airport, Gibson said she felt “very well accepted, and especially with my managers.”
Gibson felt fortunate to have worked with a supportive team during most of her time at the airport, but said not all teams were so eager to help each other, or follow CATSA’s strict protocols. Some new recruits encountered managers and peers who were “closed off” and “don’t really care to mentor them,” she noted.
“There’s just a lot of things like that make the job difficult,” Gibson explained.
Because a pre-boarding screening officer is considered an entry-level job with lower wages, Gibson said retention is also a problem. The current salary range for Ottawa airport is between $23.92 per hour and $28.47 per hour.
Tracy Simpson, spokesperson for United Steelworkers, the union representing screening officers at the Ottawa airport, wrote to CBC that the workers face a “number of challenges” including understaffing, high turnover and low job security, but that they “work hard to ensure that these shortcomings do not affect the travelling public.”
‘Healthy and productive’ work environment, says Garda
GardaWorld declined CBC’s request for an interview and didn’t specifically address the several concerns raised by screening workers.
Instead, it said in an email that managers undergo extensive training, and the company takes complaints seriously through its own resolution process.
“Our teams diligently follow all procedures to prioritize passenger safety while maintaining a healthy and productive work environment,” wrote a Garda spokesperson.
They wrote that interrupted breaks are often related to factors outside Garda’s control, such as flight delays.
Coombs suggested CATSA should directly hire, run and oversee security checkpoints to ensure more accountability.
CATSA said it has no plans to change its model of hiring contractors to provide screening service.
“CATSA has confidence in Garda to address any employment concerns internal to their organization in a fair and amicable manner with their employees,” the authority said in an email to CBC.