Airport security worker reveals the 'red flags' they look out for
An airport security worker has revealed some of the "red flags" they look out for in passengers.
Hundreds of thousands of travellers make their way through airports each and every day and it takes a keen eye to spot anything suspicious.
Jeff Price, an airport security coordinator-trainer with 33 years experience in aviation security, shared some insights with Fox News Digital recently.
He said there are a "variety" of things that people are trained to look for and it's never about just one behaviour, but rather "clusters" of suspicious actions.
Airport security workers have a lot they need to pay attention to. Fairfax
READ MORE: Qantas narrowly misses top spot as 'world's safest' airlines for 2025 announced
"One of the things we do [to] train is we'll send people out to watch [airline travellers] and just observe their behaviour and get a baseline of what's normal in the airport," said Jeff, who is also a professor of aviation management at the Metropolitan State University of Denver in Colorado.
"Then we can start looking for what's abnormal – and you start looking for clusters of that," he told the publication.
One of the more common behaviours that may be a red flag among security is whether people are dressed appropriately for the weather at their departure or arrival point. It can be suspicious if travellers are dressed for the wrong kind of weather.
Also, yawning too much.
"Exaggerated yawning, lots of yawning – that might attract attention," said Price. "When people are stressed, they tend to want more oxygen."
READ MORE: I did a weekend getaway in an off-grid tiny house - here's what it was like
Thousands of people pass through airport security every day. AP
A lack of eye contact or "the thousand-yard stare" is another everyday behaviour that gets noticed, Jeff said, especially if it's in combination with other suspicious behaviours, as well as an excessive amount of talking or conversing with security officers.
"Sometimes that can be seen as trying to distract them from their job duties. Especially the folks working the X-ray equipment or the technology, the screening technology itself," he said.
Other red flags listed by the security expert include an excessive use of perfume, or displaying aggressive or threatening behaviour.
