[hadrian]

Nothing more yet

[The Duke]

Let me see...what would Ronald Reagan do here?

[Lee'sGhost]

To paraphrase poor Winston Churchill who must be turning over in his grave: Never have so few run so quickly from such nothing.

[Quix]

Why are we not surprised.

No are WE amused!

Sheesh.

I thought the French had a monopoloy on cowardice on that side of the Atlantic.

[ahadams2]

militant wimps, will wonders never cease?

[ScoJoe]

Why does this not surprise me?

[Mike Darancette]

Looks like US Carriers will have to add a few new flights.

[Yaelle]

Frankly, what else can Bush and Ridge do? They have three choices. Come down hard on everything suspicious, or ruffle some feathers but don't inconvenience anyone, or do nothing and laugh at the threats. No matter what happens, only the first one will clear them of accusations of not trying to protect the country.

The problem, of course, that results from taking this hard line, for which I bless them, is the same one that confronted Chicken Little. Eventually no one will believe that the sky could really fall.

But it could. We saw it fall on 9/11 and it could happen again.

[marron]

There is another way to look at it. They supposedly have specific intel that a certain individual on the flight might be a terrorist. Yet they are going to let him board, but place an armed man on the plane to shoot him if he trips on his way to the restroom.

If I were the pilot under the circumstances, I would cancel the flight.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Our response is 100% right on. No armed marshalls = no landing priveledges. Way to go GW!

[bluefish]

Haven't gotten through all the thread yet, so maybe this has been suggested:

Maybe the pilots aren't scared of armed marshalls, but they are simply using this stated priciple to avoid working.

Or, a more frightening scenario: What if they actually don't fear the armed marshalls, but it makes for a convenient excuse? What if the pilots themselves are so convinced that a terrorist plot is in the works that they themselves are too afraid to fly, DESPITE armed marshalls on board? Wouldn't that be a doozy? If an armed marshall has been assigned to a particular flight, there is plenty of cause to be concerned about that particular flight. Object to the armed marshall, don't fly, avoid what appears to be a higher risk flight!

[HardStarboard]

Plaudits to BA for decreasing airspace congestion over our major airports.

[LayoutGuru2]

[wardaddy]

Is this the same gene pool that once owned more of the world than anyone before or since and generally left places better than they found them?

If not, then where did those Brits run off to?

Don't anybody say "here"...we are on the same slope just lagging a bit Thank God.

[Tommyjo]

Nonsense. This is just the media picking up on a story which broke the week before. The Unions are involved in discussions. Just because it is British Airways doesn't mean that all the pilots are British!

[steveegg]

Who has the NYT schadenfreude ping list?

[omega_c]

*coughbloodyfreakinstupidcough* first the french, now the brits, whos next? canada?

[Search4Truth]

Only cowards, fools and criminals are afraid of good men with guns.

[longtermmemmory]

If this is true, this has to be the first nominiees for stupid-employee-of-the-year. Then again doesn't BA get gov. subsidies?

[alameda]

Move over BA pilots.. we'll fly the planes.