Coverage for “High Risk” Flights at Lowest Levels Since 9-11

An unnerving piece of news from The Air Marshal National Council has shown that coverage for American flights is at an all-time low, with FAMs pulled off regular flight duty to fulfill outside tasks.  

The Council requested that the TSA stop deploying FAMs to the border to plug personnel gaps from other shorthanded law enforcement bodies in the area. The use of Air Marshals outside of their regular airborne duties has left the traveling public endangered by a level of coverage unseen since the pre-9/11 era. 

The Council noted that Marshals first and foremost duty is to protect high-risk flights, noting "Removing them from their normal duties to deploy to the border to perform mainly non-law enforcement duties, is putting our national security at risk. The Federal Air Marshal service currently has the lowest flight coverage since the 9-11 attacks. The agency is experiencing an extraordinarily high retirement rate due to low morale and most agents being eligible. Additionally the agency has been deploying FAMs to other areas of the country to handle the surge of migrants from Afghanistan and the Ukraine. All of this has contributed to the lowest flight covered since 9-11 and possibly an opportunity for another attack."

A copy of the TSA directive used to reassign FAM personnel was released by Judicial Watch, illustrating the dearth of law enforcement personnel needed to provide a minimum standard of safety at the Southern border. 

“The nation is experiencing a surge in irregular migration along the Southwest Border” says the notice to FAM officers. “The unprecedented volume of Noncitizen Migrants (NCMs) currently apprehended mandates immediate further action to protect the life and safety of federal personnel and noncitizens in CBP custody. To support its mission, CBP is seeking federal employees from DHS Components and other federal agencies to be placed on reimbursable TDY assignments to assist in critical support functions. LE/FAMS has been directed by DHS to support this request.”

FMI: www.federalsecuritycouncil.com