TSA to allow small knives, bats, clubs on planes

[jsr]

53. New TSA policy on knives, bats sparks backlash

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_KNIVES_ON_PLANES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-03-08-06-30-29

Mar 8, 6:30 AM EST
New TSA policy on knives, bats sparks backlash
By JOAN LOWY

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Flight attendants, pilots, federal air marshals and even insurance companies are part of a growing backlash to the Transportation Security Administration's new policy allowing passengers to carry small knives and sports equipment like souvenir baseball bats and golf clubs onto planes.

The Flight Attendants Union Coalition, which representing nearly 90,000 flight attendants, said it is coordinating a nationwide legislative and public education campaign to reverse the policy announced by TSA Administrator John Pistole this week. A petition posted by the flight attendants on the White House's "We the People" website had more than 9,300 signatures early Friday urging the administration to tell the TSA to keep knives off planes.

"Our nation's aviation system is the safest in the world thanks to multilayered security measures that include prohibition on many items that could pose a threat to the integrity of the aircraft cabin," the coalition, which is made up of five unions, said in a statement. "The continued ban on dangerous objects is an integral layer in aviation security and must remain in place."

Jon Adler, national president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, whose 26,000 members include federal air marshals, complained that he and other "stakeholders" weren't consulted by TSA before the "countersafety policy" was announced. He said the association will ask Congress to block the policy change.