Profile on Montreal Pre-Board Screening Officer Antoine De Dominico

Pre-board screening officer Antoine De Dominico

As a young boy, Antoine De Dominico spent his days off from school walking the hallways of Montreal's Mirabel airport. Having his father as the assistant station manager at Mirabel meant that Antoine considered the airport his second home.

“I used to come with my dad in the morning, he'd go on with his day and I would just walk for hours and hours. I loved everything about the airport. I was amazed at how everything was so big and how everyone was so small in comparison to it. As a kid, you're smaller than everyone else. But at the airport, everybody was small compared to the rest,” he says.

Antoine realized at an early age that his calling was within these airport walls. At 22, he enrolled in pilot classes and is
now in the process of accumulating the required 1500 hours
of airline pilot training. While it will take Antoine five years
to reach his goal, he says he's very happy in his current position
as a pre-board screening officer at Mirabel Airport.

“For starters, pre-board screening is part of the aviation industry. I used to work on the ramp as part of the ground crew but I wanted to try a job that would allow me to interact with people. I applied for a pre-board screening position, met the pre-requisites, went on training and now, I love it.”

For Antoine, being a pre-board screening officer is the best way to get a close view of Canada's aviation security industry.

“Dealing with travellers and trying to ease their worries before they board a plane is a real eye-opener for me. I now have a better picture of how it feels to fly after the September 11 attacks. I'm happy to be one of the people who can help make the travellers' experience a stress-free and pleasant one.”

Antoine says that many passengers have high stress levels and that the pre-board screening officer's job is to be patient, answer questions and explain the process and the purpose of the security measures passengers must undergo before boarding a plane.

“Many of the passengers I see at my station are so stressed they forget their luggage. The secret to being a good pre-board screening officer is calmness, concentration and a high level of professionalism. As a pre-board screening officer, it's important to explain to the passengers that these security measures are there to ensure their security.”

Antoine was a passenger himself this summer when he went to visit his native country, Italy. He had to catch a transatlantic plane from Toronto's Pearson International Airport where it was his turn to be checked at a pre-board screening point.

“I was very happy to see that all pre-board screening officers at Canadian airports are trained the same way to do the same good job. And that is what makes our aviation security system one of the best in the world.”

CATSA Appears Before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport

On December 3rd, Mr. Jacques Duchesneau, President & CEO of CATSA appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport to discuss CATSA's role, responsibilities and budget. Mr. Duchesneau was accompanied by Mark Duncan, VP of Operations and Mike Baker, VP of Corporate Management. During the meeting, members of the committee questioned CATSA representatives on a number of issues related to our mandate. Here are some excerpts from the hearing:

CATSA's President and CEO Jacques Duchesneau: The reason why we are here today is because air security is a national issue of concern. We are right now cooperating with various stakeholders, airport authorities, airlines, and other government agencies to ensure we maintain one of the best and most secure air transportation systems in the world.

The security of travellers is our first priority and the main focus of our administration. I would like to outline our mandate:

• pre-board screening at airports across the country, including the training and certification of screening officers;
• security equipment at airports, including the purchase, deployment, operation and maintenance of new explosives detection systems;
• working with the RCMP on the Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program which assigns officers on board selected domestic and international flights;
• providing funding to support increased policing at airports.
• the implementation of an enhanced restricted area pass system for Canadian airports; and
• screening of non-passengers entering restricted areas at airports.

Committee Member: What are the criteria to become a pre-board screening officer?

CATSA's V.P. of Operations Mark Duncan: First of all, you are required to have landed immigrant status and grade 12. There are a few other requirements such as competence tests. Then, we have a three-level training process. The first two days of training are basically customer service. If the person does not survive the first two days, obviously, he or she is not in. Then he/she goes to the second level, and then the third level which is the operation of the machines. It's basically a progressive training.

We've also integrated the training with our certification process so that there is on-the-job testing as you're doing your job. We've actually improved the certification process that was previously in place where you were certified once every two years. We're going to have a continuous set of tests that lead up to certification.

Committee Member: How will the salaries of pre-board screening officers increase and what would entice them to stay on?

Mr. Duncan: What we did is establish a minimum base, minimum terms of salary that will form part of the contract with our service providers. All the employees will be receiving a reasonable wage and it will be based somewhat on the market across the country.

Committee Member: What would be the hours of additional training an individual would get to incorporate the additional security training.
Mr. Duncan: For our screening officer staff, they receive 72 hours of classroom instruction and 120 hours of on-the-job training to become a fully certified screening officer.

Committee Member: For the companies that are currently doing the screening, my understanding is they're still being paid by the airlines. Are they? Or is that money coming out of CATSA funding?

Mr. Duchesneau: The money is coming out of CATSA funding. The companies are being reimbursed upon receiving their invoices.

A Regional View…

A Talk with CATSA'S Québec Regional Manager Antonio Andrade

When talking with Québec Regional Manager Antonio Andrade, one quickly realizes the aviation industry is his passion. After enrolling in the Portuguese Air Force in his homeland at the age of 17, Andrade got the opportunity to move to Canada and work for a number of international airlines including British Airways, Air Canada and Canadian Airlines. Mr. Andrade worked in many areas ranging from ramp operations to reservations to airport customer service and airline management. This past October, he joined CATSA's team as regional manager for the Mirabel Airport and is now acting regional manager for the Québec region.

CATSA NEWS had a chance to chat with Mr. Andrade about his most recent work at CATSA and his valuable contribution of more than 35 years in Canada's aviation industry.

Regional Manager Antonio Andrade and the team of specialists travelling with him

CN: What is happening right now at Mirabel airport?

AA: Well, presently, we have deployed a lot of security equipment, the staff is certified and ready to deal with the high season traffic (December-January)

CN: You just came back from a Québec tour. What did you do there?

AA: We visited Québec airports. I was part of a team comprised of an architect and three engineers with different specialties. Our goal was to make an initial contact with each Airport Authority and assess the individual needs regarding the installation of present and future security equipment. It was necessary to have a consensus with all stakeholders involved since all the options will affect the space in the airport facilities (check in, baggage rooms, boarding gate and the security manpower increase). We visited
fourteen of the twenty Québec airports in five days.
The airports we didn't visit had already been
evaluated.

CN: What kind of feedback have you been getting from travellers regarding air security?

AA: My perception in talking to passengers is that they already see a change in the attitude of pre-board screening officers and reduced waiting time. The comments of the screening officers and supervisors about the training are very positive and I'm convinced that continuous training will be the key to our success.

CN: You've worked at airports all your life. How would you describe the changes being made since CATSA began implementing its mandate?

AA: Three words: Professionalism, cutting-edge technology, and improvement in customer service.

CN: Thank you Antonio

AA: You're welcome