Thursday, June 6, 2013

'No knives on planes' decision praised by Teamsters, others

Teamster flight attendants are celebrating the Transportation Security Administration's decision to keep knives out of airplane cabins.

The TSA in March proposed letting knives in passenger cabins for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. As part of a coalition of 90,000 flight attendants, the Teamsters filed a legal challenge to the TSA's plan. The coalition also supported legislation in Congress to reverse the TSA.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa is pleased with the decision:
Airline employees and their passengers made it clear that there is no place for dangerous weapons on airplanes. We commend TSA for hearing those real concerns of workers on the front lines and rethinking the agency’s position. We will all be safer because of it.
So is David Bourne, director of the Teamsters Airline Division:
This decision marks a big victory for airline workers and the flying public. The current rules, which allow knives to be included in checked luggage, have been shown to work. There is no reason to change course from the safety measures put in place after September 11th.
Many of our Facebook readers agreed.  Joe Norton posted,
Great job. No knives of any kind shall be allowed.
John Holzwarth:
Wow, can't believe they finally woke up ! 
Bart Leonard
Great job guys. Strength in numbers. 
And from UPSer John Edward Beirne
Common sense prevails!
Great job, Teamster flight attendants!