New U.S. rules won't cause problems: airlines Last Updated Fri Jan 18 19:34:36 2002 OTTAWA - Airlines in Canada say they are ready to comply with strict new=20 policies for all flights destined to the United States. Starting Friday,=20 Canadian planes that fly to the United States must supply American=20 authorities with passenger lists. Airlines have to provide the name, age,=20 nationality and ticket number of every person on board U.S.-bound flights. The White House has increased security since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks= =20 involving hijacked planes that were deliberately crashed in New York,=20 Washington and Pennsylvania. Canada's privacy commissioner has raised=20 fears about what American authorities will do with the information they=20 gather about airline passengers. But the airlines had no choice, or they=20 would be barred from the U.S. This forced them to scramble to meet the=20 changes. Air Canada bought electronic passport readers, and is encouraging= =20 passengers to bring them on flights, even though it is not required by U.S.= =20 Customs. The airline also set up a computer system to transmit the=20 information to the U.S. Air Canada spokesperson Laura Cooke said the=20 carrier tested the new equipment last week and it works=20 well. Montreal-based Air Transat has set up its own computer system, and=20 has assured passengers that it shouldn't take them any longer than usual to= =20 check-in. New luggage checks In the United States, meanwhile, a new law went into effect Friday that=20 requires airlines to check bags for explosives more thoroughly. The=20 carriers can open them by hand, use bomb-sniffing dogs or inspect luggage=20 with special screening machines. At the very least, luggage must be matched= =20 to passengers getting on aircraft. Some delays were reported at airports=20 Friday, as security guards and passengers adjusted to the new system. Most= =20 airlines are expected to adopt the bag-matching procedure, rather than=20 invest in new screening machines or additional inspection staff. Critics=20 have said relying on luggage identification is dangerous because it won't=20 stop suicide bombers. By 2003, Washington wants to force all airlines to=20 use electronic equipment to check bags for bombs. Industry analysts call=20 the plan ambitious and expensive =96 one that would require manufacturing=20 thousands of machines and reinforcing airport floors to accommodate the=20 extra weight. It's not clear where the estimated $8 billion US will come=20 from to pay for the upgraded security. 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: (Traffik) http://www.cariwaksoca.com/trafik.htm (Caribbean Traffik Jam) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://195.224.187.36/ *********************************************************