The chief of British airways slammed the United States over its airline passenger screening policies, saying that certain anti-terror requirements are "completely redundant."
Martin Broughton, the chairman of British Airways, told a crowd at a meeting of Britain's Airport Operators Association that U.K. security officials shouldn't "kowtow to the Americans every time they wanted something done."
He also said the U.S. has imposed excessive checks on flights coming into the country, but not on domestic flights.
"America does not do internally a lot of the things they demand that we do," Broughton said, according to the Financial Times. "We shouldn't stand for that. We should say, 'We'll only do things which we consider to be essential and that you Americans also consider essential.'"
Broughton complained specifically about policies that require travelers to remove their shoes and to have their laptops screened separately.
The shoe rule was created after "shoe bomber" Richard Reid tried to detonate explosives hidden in his shoe during a flight from Paris to Miami in 2001.
Broughton also zeroed in on inconsistent policies regarding the iPad as an example of the way officials have bungled screening procedures.
"Take the iPad: They still haven't decided if it is a laptop or it isn't a laptop," he said. "So some airports think you should take it out and some think you shouldn't."
Broughton's comments come as EUofficials continue to chafe under stringent U.S. airline anti-terror policies.
Privacy advocates in Europe have complained about a program that requires travelers flying into the U.S. to complete online security clearances, saying it violates privacy laws.
The European Union said the online registration procedure has led to Web scams and that that the program's $14 fee could be akin to a visa fee, which the EU and U.S. have waived, The Associated Press reported.
British security officials and U.K. airline industry chiefs applauded Broughton's comments.
Alan West, a security minister under former Prime Minster Gordon Brown, said some measures had gone too far.
"We have had requirement on requirement laid on top of each other, and certainly I need to be convinced about all these various layers," West told the BBC.
"I do think it does need to be rationalized, because I think we have gone too far," West said. "There are too many layers, too much inconsistency."
Virgin Atlantic, another British airline, echoed Broughton's complaints in a statement.
"We have said for many years that new technology is urgently needed to ensure that security checks in airports are effective but quicker and less intrusive on our passengers," the airline said.
As a result of Broughton's comments, Phillip Hammond, Britain's transport secretary, said he was willing to change security regulations at British airports, but would not ask the U.S. to relax its restrictions, the BBC reported.
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