Would airport security be less efficient if people passing through security were treated politely – eg, an occasional “please” or “thank you” instead of barked orders and incivility, or even hostility. I can’t think of any other aspect of public life where law-abiding, paying citizens are treated with such rudeness and disrespect – just because they’re taking a plane. Stella O’Shea Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Notes and queries returns in the new year. Readers reply The obvious answer is no. The staff are trained to be efficient. All that is needed is to train some of the passengers how to behave. brit6076 So, if you’re behaving perfectly well and they’re still being rude to you, what’s going on there then? Because that’s what the question is about. lexicon_mistress They are polite if you compare them with immigration staff. correction5 I am old. I remember when you went to the airport and were treated like a special guest. People dressed up to fly and were treated accordingly. I flew for the last time in 2009 and will never fly again as I find paying an enormous amount of money to be treated like a criminal to be disgusting. violagirl I travel a lot and have rarely found airport staff going out of their way to be unpleasant and rude. Most are polite if sometimes brusque. Just because you paid for a service doesn’t mean you should expect servility or obsequiousness. FidelCastro The airport security we see as passengers is primarily security theatre, not actual security. Its purpose is to demonstrate it is a secure system so that everyone can relax and avoid the temptation to try something stupid. For some reason, many people seem to believe that hostile-bordering-on-thuggish is what proper security should feel like. So that’s the theatre we get. I take the train. dubochet I have a mental illness and don’t do well with security. The moment they shout, I lose the capacity to understand what it is they want me to do and just stand there bewildered while they shout some more. I probably need to book an airport disabled escort just to get past security. I can manage all sorts of non-shouting stuff like checking-in. ursuppe I am so glad that it isn’t just me that struggles with the “verbal abuse” received in airport security. Screaming, shouting and barking orders at people is rude, unnecessary and doesn’t help. In every other walk of life, I would not allow anyone speak to me in this way, but in security I am so frightened that I will be refused access to fly that I say nothing. Security staff need to be mindful that some people are unable to cope with being shouted at. I am one of those people: my anxiety levels are off the scale before I even put my luggage on the conveyer belt. Deborah Johnson I’ve travelled all over the world by plane in the past 40 years, and rarely is the civility of the security staff a defining issue in the efficiency or effectiveness of security screening. Typically, it’s the fundamental lack of preparedness of travellers, coupled with their belligerence at being checked, that creates consternation at the security checks. uncompromise I knew the day to retire as cabin crew had arrived when I started to argue with security for making a young couple wake up their sleeping toddler and take him out his pushchair at 2.30am. MrsOptimistic2 You obviously don’t understand your position in the hierarchy. Passengers are nothing but SLF (self-loading freight). pmyatt Staff at Gatwick are incredibly rude and invariably grumpy. They never politely request anything, all communication is barked while wearing angry looks on their faces. BusDriversDaughter Personally I have found security staff to be abrupt only in the US, which is perhaps down to the increased presence of guns. Paulo777 If you can, fly from John Lennon airport in Liverpool. It’s hassle-free, and the staff are all friendly, but still efficient. ziggywiggy It’s only in the UK that I’ve come across rude security staff, especially in Manchester airport, where I encountered a woman so aggressive and rude that I felt threatened. stevejashby We have found security people in the US among the rudest. On one occasion, in San Francisco, we were queuing and one man was directing us to various desks. He did this by screaming at us, with the result that by the time we arriving for checking, we shaking and sweating. An older couple in front were in pieces, especially when the husband was told to remove his belt. I thought that security had no chance of distinguishing those who had something to hide and the innocent, totally counterproductive. JRshaw I travel to the US about seven times a year. The TSA are hands down the rudest, pushiest, sulkiest, slowest, most unpleasant security staff I have experienced anywhere. And I travelled to Moscow before the fall of the USSR. Jackanapes The most inefficient and brusque staff I have encountered are at Toronto’s Pearson airport. Despite the fact that I use a cane, the two border officials for 150 people let me stand in a hot terminal for well over an hour. Unpleasant at security about joint replacements, too (which always set off alarms). Not an advert for Canadian civility (and I am from there). By contrast, in Buenos Aires, an official took me straight through the diplomatic channel so I wouldn’t have to stand. You will wait for an age at Teesside airport and they are unfriendly, too. But it has been decades since I braved JFK border officials ... CroneRanger Of all airports I’ve ever travelled through, Manchester airport is by far the worst for rude, disrespectful staff. Not to mention that they’d have you down to your vest and pants given the chance. SLS1365 Try London City. Polite, efficient and very fast security. They even smile. Chris I travel regularly through Stansted airport, often very early in the morning. All the security staff are routinely polite and friendly. I cannot say the same for Heathrow, which I find abrasive and unfriendly. Martin Saxon In Denmark, the border security workers are always polite and even smile, including the people operating the baggage checks. I reckon politeness and friendliness makes for a more effective service, and a pleasant travel experience too. S Rigby I think this depends where you are. Even within the UK there are friendly airports – and there’s Heathrow. My nicest security experience was at Narita. I made a mistake and accidentally took my unscanned hold baggage beyond the allowed point. A security man came running up, apologised, took my bag away and scanned it, and brought it back with another apology. The whole thing was entirely my fault, but instead of feeling like a criminal I felt like a cared for passenger. Engelbertra US border guards are the rudest. After one visit I refused to return. Canadians used to be polite but seem to have taken on a hostile policy and now UK Border Force seem to be following suit. MarxandEngels Travel via Norwich airport. It’s so quiet they’re delighted to see people – even the guy at passport control. Catsmum There are airports where travellers are treated with courtesy and respect, and, no, they are not less efficient. I travel fairly regularly through Billund in Denmark and it always seems to be friendly, in security and immigration. The security staff are chatty, kind and reassuring. Aligner Recently at Bristol airport I was treated just as described. At 80 years of age, partially sighted, effectively deaf and having queued for 56 minutes, I was motioned aside patted down, hands swabbed, pockets turned out and my single bag was diverted and turned out – nothing untoward found and no reason offered except: “It’s random.” Returning via Palma, three minutes and no problems. Same possessions. William P Ward, Torquay I’m so fed up of being treated like cattle that I’m seriously thinking of abandoning foreign travel completely. How different the experience in places such as Hong Kong, Singapore or Japan, where the staff wear white gloves and are extremely polite and respectful. Kathy Doyle I’ve been travelling by plane almost weekly for the past three months. In Guernsey, Manchester, Birmingham and East Midlands, the security staff are universally pleasant and helpful. Bunny in Guernsey Arriving at Havana airport a couple of decades ago, the armed security official looked at my partner, then her passport photo, then back at her, and simply said, in English: “You got fat.” WalkleyBlade