Pilots warn of ID cards rebellion

Airside workers warned the government yesterday of potential chaos at Britain's airports by saying pilots would rather lose their jobs than carry an identity card.



Stepping up their protest to the biometric scheme, the British Airline Pilots' Association vowed to "resist" plans to force members to become its first registrants.



Forcing pilots and airside staff to effectively be the scheme's guinea pigs would insult the people who are at the forefront in the battle against terrorist outrages, BAPA said.



The group added that the state's case for ID cards has not been made convincingly and that officials' claims they would improve security hold "absolutely no value."



However its biggest attack was reserved for the draft regulations in the Identity Cards Act Secondary Legislation which parliament was urged not to approve.



"What happens when the first airport worker refuses to register for an ID card?," BAPA asked, in its submission to the Identity and Passport Service.



"Our understanding from the draft regulations is ...that the individual will be out of a job. This could be an individual who has served his or her country as a service pilot being told they are not now trusted."



BAPA told bosses of Manchester and London City airports – the first two sites to trial the cards – that pilots would not cooperate because the government's approach was "unacceptable and demeaning."