The Pros And Cons Of Federal Air Marshals

Modern news has proven many times throughout the last two decades that Americans are no longer as safe as before. Every day on the television, there is news about a kidnapping or a murder. As the world becomes more and more dangerous, people become less safe in their day to day lives. Criminals are always looking for new ways to accommodate what they want. With the implementation of aircraft into daily travel, criminals gained an even greater advantage. Thousands of feet in the air, an airplane is cut off from all forms of help, leaving the passengers and crew at the mercy of the hijacker. This is why Federal Air Marshals are assigned to certain flights. However, as seen on September 11, 2001, Air Marshals aren’t very effective

On November 19, 2001, Congress created the Aviation and Transportation Security Act that led up to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) (1). The TSA basically gave the right for pilots to be armed, however many issues arose due to extensive rules and guidelines (1). It was also very unhelpful that the TSA is strictly opposed to arming pilots (8). John Magaw, the TSA’s administrator stated, “I will not allow pilots to be armed” (1). Obviously, his statement did little good. On November 25, 2002, things really started rolling when President George Bush signed the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act (8). It created a set of guidelines for arming pilots. This mandated the Federal Flight Deck Officer program and compelled the TSA to begin training and arming pilots (8). The original wording of the document only included the provisions for passenger airline pilots, however in 2003, cargo pilots were added to the

Since the program began, no armed pilots have had to use their weapons (4). There has only been one accidental discharge in which no one was harmed, and there was one incident where a pilot lost his weapon when a passenger accidently picked up the wrong luggage (4). This accident would not have happened however if pilots were allowed to carry their weapon on their side at all times. Therefore, in conclusion, arming commercial and cargo pilots is an essential aspect of airplane safety. The program is the most cost effective security program to date (2). The average cost per flight of an armed pilot is $15 compared to the average cost of two air marshals per flight of around $6600 (2). America would be crazy not to continue the program. The past ten years has shown that it works. Captain Tracy Price stated, “Arming pilots is at least ninety-five percent deterrent” (5). Obviously, this deterrent is working. American pilots need to continue to fight to keep this essential program running. The next step is convincing Congress to expand pilots’ authority beyond the cockpit. Let our pilots do their duty of protecting America’s skies from global