European, African Airlines Resist Plans for U.S. Air Marshals

January 6, 2004

European, African Airlines Resist Plans for U.S. Air Marshals
January 06, 2004 – European and African airlines will cancel flights rather than comply with American demands to carry armed air marshals on some U.S.-bound planes to guard against terrorism.

According to Reuters, decisions today by South African Airways and Thomas Cook Airlines, the charter flight arm of Europe’s second biggest travel firm, have deepened controversy over a move Washington sees as essential to outwitting al Quaeda and other extremist groups.

The British government insisted it would deploy air marshals "where appropriate."

Another U.S.-bound jet was delayed in London overnight because security checks could not be completed in time for takeoff. British Airways’ flight BA183 from London’s Heathrow to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, with 262 passengers, was now due to leave nearly a day late.