'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!

Today's Teamster News 06.06.13

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TSA To Keep Knives Off Passenger Planes  IBT   ...The Coalition of Flight Attendants, which the Teamsters Airline Division is part of, today celebrated the success of its campaign to keep knives off planes and commended the TSA for holding the line against weapons on flights...
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Woot! 'Knives on planes' delayed

Politico has the good news:

The Transportation Security Administration has called an abrupt halt to its new policy allowing pocket knives on board planes, following a month and a half of criticism from lawmakers and flight attendants. 

The policy, which had been set to take place this Thursday, drew renewed scrutiny following last week’s bombings in Boston. But TSA Administrator John Pistole offered no specific reason for the delay, which he announced in an email to employees Monday.

The Teamsters, who represent about 80,000 commercial airline employees, strongly opposed letting knives on planes. General President Jim Hoffa said last month:

Since the horrific 9/11 terror attacks, the ban on dangerous objects in the aircraft cabin has helped make our nation’s airline industry the safest in the world. This ban has been and continues to be an integral part of our nation’s aviation security system, ensuring the safety of both passengers and crew members. We call on the TSA to reverse this decision. 

Knives don’t belong in the aircraft cabin. The Teamsters will fight to make sure dangerous objects stay out of our skies and we’ll continue working with our allies, including the Coalition of Airline Pilots Association, which has also come out forcefully against this dangerous decision.

The Teamsters have been committed to supporting the public campaign against the new TSA policy. The Teamsters union is a proud member of the 90,000-strong Flight Attendants Union Coalition leading that campaign.