Feingold Wants Answers Why Marshals Are Denied Boarding

They are assigned to protect airlines against terrorist attacks... but recent claims by Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) state another security directive, the infamous "no-fly" list, prevents some from doing their job. 

The Washington Times reported this week some air marshals were denied boarding by airlines because their names exactly matched that of a suspected terrorist on the no-fly list. Even with credentials, airlines continue to deny boarding for the marshals... resulting in a serious, though ironic, security gap.

"In some cases, planes have departed without any coverage because the airline employees were adamant they would not fly," an air marshal said to the Times.

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold wants answers from the Bush administration to correct the situation for the sake of air travel security. Feingold sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III on May 2 asking for a copy of a classified security directive that outlines how air marshals matched on the no-fly list will work with airline officials in the future.

"I cannot begin to imagine the frustration of a federal air marshal who has been assigned to board an airplane to protect its passengers and crew, but who is prevented from doing so by an airline that erroneously believes the individual is on the no-fly list," Feingold said.

"As I am sure you will agree, this is a bad outcome in every respect," the Senator added. "It provides less security to the flying public, and it highlights continuing problems with the terrorist screening database and its redress process."

FAMs claim the situation has been around for more than six years, and only now steps are being taken to resolve the issue.

The Assistant Director of the Office of Flight Operations for the agency issued a new security directive (SD) on April 23 "to address those situations where air carriers deny FAMs boarding based on 'no-fly list' names matches." Gregory Alter, spokesman for the Federal Air Marshal Service, said the new directive "mitigates any misidentification concerns by empowering airlines to quickly clear an air marshal's status after positively identifying their law enforcement status."

The directive may not have an immediate impact, as the memo warned of situations where the SD had not yet reached every air carrier customer service representative.
"If a FAM is denied boarding based on 'no fly list' issues, FAMS should request to speak to an air carrier supervisory CSR," the directive reads. "If the air carrier continues to deny the FAM a boarding pass, FAMS should contact (their supervisor) as soon as possible for assistance."

The issue sits on the heels of a program unveiled by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this week to "calm the checkpoint" for passengers and reduce the numbers of false positives against the no-fly list. The prototype Checkpoint Evolution program is already underway at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI,) as reported by ANN.

FMI: www.tsa.gov, www.senate.gov/~feingold/