Markey Asks for Reversal of Knife Policy

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) asked the Transportation Safety Administration to reverse its new policy to allow knives back onto passenger airplanes, citing the opposition of flight attendants and federal law enforcement officers, along with the lessons of the September 11th attacks involving box cutters. Rep. Markey pushed to continue the ban on knives, scissors and other bladed devices in 2005 and 2006, after TSA last relaxed these rules. He was joined today by the Association of Flight Attendants in opposing the rule change.
 
In a letter sent to TSA head John Pistole, Rep. Markey expresses concern about the safety of passengers and fight attendants, and whether there was “sufficient consultation” with those who would bear the most harm from an attack using bladed weapons in an airplane. That letter can be found HERE.
 
“The attacks on September 11, 2001 demonstrated that in the confined environment of an airplane, even a small blade in the hands of a terrorist can lead to disaster,” writes Rep. Markey. “The new, more permissive rules announced this week by TSA are opposed by the Flight Attendants Union Coalition and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association as an unnecessary change that needlessly places the lives of airline passengers and flight attendants at risk.”
 
The AFA weighed in against the TSA policy today with Rep. Markey, noting his prior work on this issue. The AFA represents 60,000 flight attendants at more than 20 airlines.