[FLIGHT ATTENDANTS STEP INTO THE FRAY: Why stop with the pilots? Why not give the flight attendants guns as well? That's what the 50,000-member union, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), is advocating.
The union recently took a stand against arming pilots, unless the cockpit crew was required to leave its fortified sanctuary and defend the main cabin. Not surprisingly, the Air Line Pilots Association says pilots, and their weapons, should stay in the cockpit. At AVweb, we're wondering when the pax are going to get together and demand their right to bear arms.
NOTE: AVweb's NewsWire at http://avweb.com/n/?19b includes more details, plus a link to the complete text of the AFA press release about guns on airplanes.]
Why stop with the pilots? Why not give the flight attendants a gun as well? That's what the 50,000-member union, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), is advocating. The union recently took a stand against arming pilots in the cockpit, unless the rest of the cockpit crew was required to leave the fortified sanctuary and defend the main cabin. Patricia Friend, the AFA's international president, said, "The flight attendants are against guns being put in the cockpit if the pilots are the only ones with a means to defend the passengers and us. We must advocate that pilots be required to act in our defense, rather than locking and staying inside the cockpit while flight attendants are harmed." Not surprisingly, it's a controversial position. Herb Hunter, a United pilot and Chicago-area spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, told the Chicago Sun-Times it doesn't make any sense. "If they have to come out to intervene in the cabin, then you risk losing the whole airplane," he said. "I appreciate the position of the flight attendants, they're entitled to their position. This is ours: If you lose the cockpit, you lose the airplane. You can't bring the weapon out of the cockpit, that's our position right now." At AVweb, we're wondering when the pax are going to get together and demand their right to bear arms.
It's still a no-brainer, Howie. This reeks of the democRAT parsing that we went through with klintoon. "Did she blow him? Was it really sex? Did he stain her dress, or the rug in the Oval Office? Well, it's a private matter!"
An armed Pilot can stop a hi-jacker. An un-armed Pilot cannot! It's pretty simple..........FRegards