Delta CEO criticizes move allowing small knives on airplanes

[Hatu]

(CNN) -- Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson said Friday he objects to the federal Transportation Security Administration's move this week to allow small pocketknives on airplanes.
"These items have been banned for more than 11 years and will add little value to the customer security process flow in relation to the additional risk for our cabin staff and customers," Anderson said in a letter to the head of the TSA.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/travel/tsa-knives/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

 

[WorldTraveler]

it's beyond belief that we have gov't officials who think that it is ok to carry a knife but not a bottle of water or a soft drink.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

it's beyond belief that we have gov't officials who think that it is ok to carry a knife but not a bottle of water or a soft drink.

I do not agree with the knife turnabout either. I also do not think it is a good idea to allow a bottle of liquid that has not been screened in some way.

That said, there is really no way to stop someone who is Intent on doing harm aboard an aircraft. Think of all the chemical/biological agents that could be brought aboard unseen.

 

[Kev3188]

Exactly. Meanwhile, everyone's still busy putting their shoes back on...

 

[LD3]

Exactly. Meanwhile, everyone's still busy putting their shoes back on...

and belt....

 

[Kev3188]

That's how this became a thing...

 

[WorldTraveler]

it is because we have accepted for years that it is ok to take water and sprite from Americans that it continues.
DHS DOES have responsibility for screening everyone that enter airport areas except for certain employees working in certain functions.

It doesn't make it any more absurd to restore "rights" to a relatively small percent of the traveling public based on a perceived safety that overlooks the failure to secure the whole system adequately.

It isn't necessary to piecemeal security if the whole process is fixed in an integrated fashion.

 

[SharoninSAT]

That's how this became a thing...

just a bit of humor...
http://www.jsonline....e/29452504.html

 

[Hatu]

Their argument is that a liquid bomb can take down a plane, but a pocket knife cannot. Yes, hurt and kill in the cabin, but not take down a plane today.


Washington (CNN) -- The former head of transportation security said Wednesday he supports a new policy allowing small knives on planes, but said it does not go far enough, and should include instruments such as "battle axes (and) machetes."

Sharp objects can no longer bring down aircraft, former Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley told CNN, and the search for knives interferes with the search for objects that can harm aircraft.

"They ought to let everything on that is sharp and pointy. Battle axes, machetes ... bring anything you want that is pointy and sharp because while you may be able to commit an act of violence, you will not be able to take over the plane. It is as simple as that," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/travel/tsa-carry-on-hawley/index.html

I do not agree with the proposed changes, just pointing out the thinking behind the changes. I am a flight attendant, I do not want a machete carrying pax. on board.

 

[SharoninSAT]

American Airlines, Southwest Flight Attendants Oppose Knives On Planes

March 12, 2013 6:15 PM

DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) – ​

The plan to let airline passengers carry small knives on board planes will be grounded, if some flight attendant groups have their way.​

The flight attendants union for Southwest Airlines has joined a coalition of groups calling for a reversal of the plan to allow passengers to carry small knives.​

Executives with American Airlines issued a letter to the TSA today, also asking for a reassessment of the planned rule change.​

“We encourage the agency to reassess its planned revisions,” the letter reads.​

The new policy is also not sitting well Stacy Martin, president of the flight attendants union for Southwest Airlines. He represents 11-thousand members.​

“Our message to the TSA is the same. We want to stay with the rules that were in place before they made this announcement,” says Martin. “We need consistency for crew members and for the traveling public.”​

By late April, air travelers screened at airport security checkpoints will be allowed to have and keep knives with blades just under two-and-a-half inches in length. The rule matches international airport safety standards.​

 

[WorldTraveler]

The rule matches international airport safety standards.[/left][/font][/color]

problem is that terrorists targeted US, not international, aircraft and US, not international, buildings.

 

[SharoninSAT]

The agency is showing no sign of backing down. Appearing today at a hearing of the House Transportation Security subcommittee, TSA Administrator John Pistole defended the new policy and the process that led to it.

http://www.bloomberg...er-sept-11.html

TSA administrator John Pistole is an incompetent!

 

[Airlinelifer]

Just another bass-ackwards move by the suits running the Thousands Standing Around.

 

[SharoninSAT]

http://www.bloomberg...er-sept-11.html

http://www.usatoday....knives/1987749/

They should stay with the rules that were in place before this announcement was made
and in addition... focusing more on terrorist attacks that can bring down a plane.

 

[SharoninSAT]

TSA postpones allowing small knives back on planes

USA Today​

- 04/23/2013 -

WASHINGTON The Transportation Security Administration is postponing letting passengers carry small knives back aboard airline flights.

After facing strong opposition to the policy change from flight attendants and its own air marshals, the agency said Monday it was delaying the policy change so that the airline industry, passenger advocates and law-enforcement experts could weigh in on what should be allowed on planes.

"This timing will enable TSA to incorporate the feedback about the changes to the Prohibited Items List and continue workforce training," the TSA said in a statement.

The TSA had planned to let the knives, with blades up to 2.36 inches, on flights starting Thursday. It would have been the first time they would have been back on passenger planes since Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists armed with box cutters hijacked four jetliners.

TSA chief John Pistole had made the policy change March 5, saying that airport security screeners needed to concentrate on greater risks to air travel.

He also said the change would better match international policy and that other potential weapons, such as scissors and knitting needles, have been allowed on planes since 2005.

The Flight Attendants Union Coalition, which represents 90,000 flight attendants and lobbied against the policy change, welcomed the postponement. The group argued that if TSA wants to change the policy, the agency must go through a formal rulemaking process.

"In the wake of the terrorist bombing in Boston last week ... now is not the time to weaken transportation security," said Sara Nelson, international vice president of the Association of Flight Attendants. "Flight attendants are breathing a sigh of relief that the weapons that led to the deadliest attack on U.S. soil in our nation's history will not be allowed in the aircraft cabin this week."