Small airlines set to fight airport security fee WebPosted Wed Dec 26 12:52:31 2001 PRINCE ALBERT, SASK. - Airlines in remote northern communities say the=20 proposed airport security tax announced in this month's federal budget is=20 not fair. Although the tax won't go into effect for more than a month,=20 small airlines say they'll use that time to lobby against the plan. Airline= =20 travel from Saskatchewan cities to smaller northern communities is already= =20 expensive, as much as $600 each way. The federal fee was announced to=20 offset the increased costs of new security measures. But small airlines,=20 like National Aviation, say they take can care of their own security=20 needs. "We won't have any of the services that large airlines have, like=20 Westjet and Air Canada =96 they'll likely have sky marshals on board," says= =20 National Aviation's Jeffrey Smith. "We won't have anything like that. We=20 do our own security screening here. So where is that $24 going that each of= =20 our passengers have to pay?" An official in the finance department says some very small airlines will be= =20 exempt from the new security fee. But the question of who will have to pay= =20 and who won't has passengers in northern Saskatchewan worried. "It's very= =20 expensive for me to travel up north, but paying extra is really too much,"= =20 says Jessie McDonald. McDonald makes the trip from Fond du Lac to Prince=20 Albert to shop. She flies in with her children about 10 times a=20 year. "It's not like, we're going to go to London or New York, so what's=20 the use of paying these security fees?" she asks. But not everyone in the= =20 community feels that way. "I don't mind because security is important,=20 taking into consideration what's been happening all over the world, says=20 Eileen MacDonald. "I think we're part of the world, too, so it's nice to=20 take that extra precaution." Written by CBC News Online staff The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com ICQ: ICQ # 15836110 ICQ Pager: mailto:15836110@pager.icq.com escape email #!1 mailto:ejames@escape.ca yahoo email #2: mailto:triniroj@yahoo.com Yahoo Pager: triniroj Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Group on Yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/caribsocabrass Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Club Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ ******************************************************* Steel Expressions Orch http://www.escape.ca/~ejames/se/ email #1: mailto:steelexpressions@yahoo.com email #2: mailto:steelexpressions@home.com ******************************************************* The Trinbago Site of the Week: (TV6) http://www.tv6tnt.com/ (Trinidad & Tobago CNN TV6) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************