Airline rejects guns on flights
Andrew Clark, Hugh Muir and Rosie Cowan
Tuesday January 6, 2004
The Guardian
Britain's biggest holiday flight operator, Thomas Cook Airlines, has
become the first carrier to display open dissent to the government's
new
security requirements by refusing to carry sky marshals on flights to
the
US.
The company, which operates 40 flights a week through US airspace,
broke
ranks over measures viewed as draconian by many airlines and pilots.
Thomas Cook said if it were asked to carry armed marshals on any
aircraft
it would cancel the flight. It operates regular charter flights from
Britain to Miami and Orlando in Florida, as well as services to Mexican
and Caribbean resorts which fly over US territory.
A spokesman for the German-owned airline, formerly known as JMC,
criticised the government for "rushing in" requirements "without proper
consultation".
"Our view is that the skipper of an aircraft must be in overall
command,"
he said. "We have a general concern about guns in aircraft cabins."
The US department of homeland security yesterday rolled out a huge
scheme
for monitoring millions of visitors each year, with travellers from all
but 28 mainly European countries to submit to digital fingerprinting
and
photographs on arrival at US airports or border crossings.
Citizens of 28 countries with a visa waiver programme with the US,
including Britain, will be exempt if they are travelling as tourists.
But
as of yesterday Britons visiting the US on student or business visas
were
subject to the new measures.
US officials said the measures would take only a few seconds and would
ensure the safety of legitimate travellers.
The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) will today meet the
transport secretary, Alistair Darling, to argue vig orously against air
marshals. It is worried about accidental injuries to passengers, for
which
it believes pilots could be held legally responsible.
Other airlines have privately taken the same position as Thomas Cook,
although few are prepared to speak out.
British Airways is believed to be sceptical. At a meeting with pilots'
representatives yesterday, the national carrier said it would not
operate
flights where there was any cause for concern over security. Insiders
said
this effectively ruled out the use of marshals.
Jim McAuslan, general secretary of Balpa, said talks with BA were
continuing on how to react if the government insisted on deploying
marshals randomly.
BA's twice cancelled afternoon service to Washington, flight 223,
suffered
another delay yesterday. More than 200 passengers had to wait three
hours
at Heathrow while US authorities examined the passenger list before
clearing it for takeoff.
Mr Darling said suggestions that the service had been disrupted
because BA
was resisting marshals were "rubbish". Decisions to ground aircraft
were
taken when the government concluded it was the only safe thing to do,
he
said.
The lack of clear protocols over sky marshals has triggered concern
at the
Metropolitan Police Authority. Scotland Yard was asked to supply 40
trained officers and struck a deal to provide 20.
Six officers from the police service of Northern Ireland's
anti-terrorist
unit are also being trained as sky marshals.
The MPA chairman, Toby Harris, said: "The question of liability must be
very clear. It would not be appropriate for the Met or for the MPA to
take
on any responsibility for liability as a result of providing these sky
marshals."
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Dr. Alastair T. Gardiner
Microbial Photosynthesis Lab 217
Davidson Building
IBLS-Division of Biochemistry & Mol. Biol.
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ
Scotland
Tel. (+44) 141 330 6449
Fax. (+44) 141 330 4620
E-mail. atg3v@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.gla.ac.uk/ibls/BMB/rjc/agardiner.html
**************************************
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