Originally Posted by
JamesNoBrakes
Hmm, my airport badge says SIDA on it, so it would seem they can be one in the same.
There are plenty of "airport badges" that do not have SIDA access. Yours does because you job requires SIDA access. At a lot of airports the "SIDA" is marked by a colored line that encompasses the largest commercial airliner that serves the airport. The rest of the property is non-SIDA.
I've seen one operation where the mechanics had to have airport badges to access the ramp but were non-SIDA because the SIDA was on the other side of the field. The pilots didn't need any airport badge because they were only operating out of the one specific company ramp.