An airport whistleblower is challenging government on the need to spend £300,000 on tackling delays through airport security.

’Just turn the second scanner on at busy times for two weeks and watch the queues disappear,’ he urged airport bosses.

Airport management admit they still don’t know why long queues of passengers waiting to go through security at busy times suddenly began at the end of September.

Work started this week on a £300,000 plan to reduce the queues by reorganising the security area with a new layout, full conveyor system with tray return and extra staffing to operate the second scanning line at busy times.

But the whistleblower said the solution is simple and commonsense: ’Get more staff, pay them properly and give them proper breaks, and switch on the second scanner at busy times.’

He also spoke of general low morale and a culture of bullying at the airport with staff frightened to speak out.

The whistleblower, who has asked to remain anonymous, previously worked at the airport and is still in contact with staff there.

He claimed: ’Staff are also being watched constantly on CCTV: they’re petrified to make mistakes.’

A spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure said they would not tolerate any form of bullying behaviour.

She said: ’If there are genuine allegations of wrongdoing by government workers or by contractors who are working on its behalf these should be reported so that measures can be taken.

’We do not tolerate any form of bullying behaviour and we will take any appropriate action. There are a range of processes for raising concerns that guarantee the protection of the complainant.’

Passenger delays going through security first began to cause serious concern and complaints in September last year.

Last month, ports director Ann Reynolds told a Tynwald scrutiny committee she doesn’t know why the issue suddenly arose then.

Giving evidence to the environment and infrastructure policy review committee, she said: ’At the end of September when the queues started, there was no one issue that caused it.

’There was no change in the flights, there was no change in the scheduling, there was no change in the security processing.’

The whistleblower says spending huge sums on the problem is not the answer.

His views echo those of passenger watchdog, Travelwatch, whose spokesman Terry Liddiard, former boss of Manx Airlines, said: ’The sole reason for the delays is undoubtedly their inability to staff the second X-ray channel.

’We suggested, many months ago, that any minor alterations should be done in the quiet period and a trial take place over the busy Easter. Needless to say, recruitment of additional staff didn’t happen, and no other work commenced, until recently.

’We also objected to some other projects being added to the costs - £40,000 on boarding pass scanners and £30,000 on queue monitors might be ’nice to have’, but play no part in speeding up passenger processing.’

The DoI spokesman insisted measures to deal with the delays are already in hand.

She said: ’The department has already announced a £300,000 investment to enlarge the central search area at Ronaldsway and improve the technology. In addition, the security contractor is in the process of recruiting additional staff to open the second X-ray line.’

In other claims, the whistleblower alleged that management and managerial staff have increased by over 50% while passenger facing staff and baggage handler numbers have been reduced.

He said extra staff are no longer brought in to cope with increased passenger numbers over TT.

And he claims the treatment of sick passengers travelling on the patient transfer service has potentially fallen short of acceptable standards.

The whistleblower recalled that, historically, baggage handlers and security staff were employed directly by government and were paid well.

Baggage handlers, for example, were paid around £9 to £10 an hour and had the opportunity to do overtime, sometimes working 16 to 17 hours a day.

’I loved my job and I was proud to do it,’ he said.

A change in management just over five years ago saw Resource given the contract to operate the security area and scanners and subsequently Menzies became responsible for loading baggage and boarding passengers onto planes.

Baggage handlers and security staff were offered redundancy and given the choice of looking for other jobs in government or being taken on by Resource or Menzies.

The whistleblower said Menzies has been paying baggage handlers just over £8 an hour. Resource had been paying security staff just £7.45 an hour, a rate which has recently risen to just over £9 an hour following an independent assessment.

At the same time, he says, what was previously a small management team has been augmented by over 50%, leaving, he claims, less staff to deal with passengers and baggage.

The whistleblower said there was no reason why sick passengers, travelling on the Patient Transfer Service, need to go upstairs and wait in queues to go through security.

He drew a plan which showed the X-ray machine, near the lifts on the ground floor, which baggage handlers and air crew must use if they are going airside.

’Staff have to go through the same security as passengers. Sick passengers could also go this way. It makes no sense for them to be taken upstairs in the lift, made to wait in a queue to go through security, and then taken down again in another lift to board their plane,’ he said.