My book is an inside look into the way Heathrow Airport T5 operates. I spent four years working there as a Security Officer after spending 25 years as a prison officer (where I wrote my first book an Autobiography of my time working in HMP called A Turnkey or Not? And published by Apex publishers)
This book is a personal journal of what happened to my life during the period of February 2010 and May 2015
My life of El Dorado came to an abrupt end in February 2010 when we returned to the UK to escape the latest world recession, which was hitting Spain especially hard.
This forced me out of retirement and back into full time employment, which after an eventful year of re-establishing ourselves back into UK society and the working environment of having to work permanent nights back in a prison as a Night OSG at Feltham Young Offenders prison. Perversely whilst working the night shifts I wrote my first book A Turnkey or Not? Which then lead me to working at Heathrow Airport.
Even though the thought of returning to work did not enthral me spiritually the benefits were spending quality time with our grandchildren during their early formative lives.
After the first year which was a very disruptive period in our lives, we ultimately ended up in a lovely village called Eaton Bray near to two of our grandchildren and the start of my journey along the notorious M25 to one of the World’s busiest airports Heathrow in London.
At the start of the book I explain how from leaving the UK at the end of my first book I ended up working at Heathrow Airport.
I also give brief histories and background of both why we have the security procedures and the background of the importance of Heathrow to the UK economy.
I have split the book into three parts; the first is an anecdotal look at the behaviour of passengers when experiencing the airport security process. How their behaviour at times was unbelievable, funny, weird, sometimes amazing and others that just accepted that security is a necessary evil of modern day air travel. You will recognise the behaviour of you or people who have travelled through airport security anywhere in the world
The second part of my book is again an anecdotal look at the behaviour of some of my colleagues and their attitude to their work as security officers. I write about their perception of racism, and their attitude to their own ethnic backgrounds, and their behaviour towards passengers.
The third part of my book is about management of the terminal and their attitude to both their staff and the passengers. I tell of the blatant nepotism, and the perception of racism that is rife at Heathrow. One chapter tells the story of how I was personally treated by management and how much it was perceived that they valued their staff, or don’t as in some instances. It describes how the pressure of complying with all the security procedures laid down by all the regulating authorities can be overwhelming and the issues of getting the balance between ‘flow rates’ profits and security.
This book tells the story of my next four years of working at Heathrow Airport Terminal Five on my ultimate journey to my own El Dorado.
