145 Members Of Congress Sign Letter To Administrator Pistole

The Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions are supporting efforts led by Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA) and Michael Grimm (R-NY) to prevent TSA from allowing certain short-blade knives to be carried onto commercial airplanes. The two members of Congress wrote a letter to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on the issue that was signed by 143 additional members of Congress.

In the letter, Markey (pictured, left) and Grimm (pictured, right) state that the TSA's proposed rule change to allow knives in the passenger cabin for the first time since September 11, 2001 "is dangerous, unnecessary, and irresponsible."

"Members of Congress are so opposed to this plan to put knives on planes, you could fill a 737 with all of them," said Congressman Markey. "The TSA was right to delay this decision, and now they should deny any knife from ever being brought into a passenger cabin of a plane. I want to thank the flight attendants, the pilots, the air marshals, the TSA screeners, and the airlines who all stood up and said 'no' to this terrible idea."

"We have heard from a host of stakeholders on this issue, and the consensus is simple: no knives on planes," said Congressman Grimm. "We are all in agreement that it is not only irresponsible but dangerous to change this policy. The reality is that we live in a post-9/11 world, and we can never be too careful when it comes to protecting the safety of our flight crew and passengers. Keeping knives off our planes is a smart decision and one that should be upheld."

On March 5, 2013, TSA Administrator John Pistole announced his intention to remove certain knives from the prohibited items list. Flight attendants immediately mobilized and soon the coalition to block the rule change included pilots, gate agents, air marshals, TSA officers, passengers, law enforcement officers, several airline CEOs and the airline trade association.

Originally set to for implementation on April 25, 2013, Administrator Pistole delayed the rule change on April 23 in order to "incorporate the input from the Aviation Security Advisory Committee and continue training requirements nationwide." Pressure has continued to mount against the decision and is culminating this week as TSA stops accepting limited comments on the rule change.

FMI: www.afanet.org