After weeks of chaos, the situation seems to calm down somewhat at Arlanda. But the staff has been prepared, the pressure will be high throughout the summer and around 100 new guards are still waiting to be classified by Säpo.
Who should be held responsible for missed flights and hour-long queues still seems unclear. The opposition blames the government. The government blames Swedavia, which in turn refers to bottlenecks at Säpo. As usual, the Left Party rides on stick horses about privatization and wants the security controls to be nationalized.
It also opened Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson (S) for during Monday. According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, the “main problem” is that the private security company Avarn has not succeeded in recruiting enough staff.
At Oslo Airport, the same company handles security – without queues.
But there is no indication that a state actor would find it easier to do the same. The lack of skills in the service professions affects both the public and private sectors. And already in October, Avarn alerted that the security tests at state-owned Säpo took far too long. Instead of the normal waiting time of three weeks, it took up to three months to get staff approved. Once the examination was completed, half of the applicants had found a new job.
And at Oslo Airport, the same company handles security – without queues.
That V blames the chaos on privatizations is one thing. As Minister of Trade and Industry, Thorwaldsson should be more constructive. The Riksdag’s traffic committee has had meetings with Swedavia, the Minister of Justice and Home Affairs, Säpo, the Minister of Infrastructure and the Minister of Trade and Industry himself. But it is incomprehensible that the government, authorities and the companies concerned have still not sat down in the same room to sort out the situation.
Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson “does not rule out the idea” but has not yet made a move in the matter.
That would be another end to begin with.
Read several texts by Emma Høen Bustos.