Pilots threaten strike if kept disarmed

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http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=5752

News - October 5, 2001

    Pilots threaten to stop
    service if kept unarmed
    By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
    Union Leader Staff

    Commercial airline pilots will be asked to suspend air
    service if they cannot have trained, armed pilots in the cockpits, a
    New Hampshire pilot said.

    A resolution that will be circulated among the various councils of
    the 67,000-member Air Line Pilots Association this month asks
    federal regulations be changed to allow for the voluntary arming of
    flight crew members, Robert Giuda, a United Airlines captain of
    Warren said.

    "Had we had armed pilots on Sept. 11, we wouldn't have the
    horrific tragedy that we're dealing with at this point," Giuda
    said of the four hijacked jetliners.

    Pilots would first get training in firearms by the FBI and would use
    their weapons only to defend against an attempted breach of the
    cockpit, the resolution said.

    The resolution also calls for federal licensing of pilots to carry
    concealed weapons and for the government to indemnify air carriers
    and their employees against the legitimate use of a firearm.

    If those steps are not carried out, the resolution calls for a
    national suspension of air service, at such times and in such manner
    as is deemed appropriate by the leadership of the Air Line Pilots
    Association."

    "We're hearing members of Congress say they don't want a bunch of
    armed hooligans running around," said Giuda, a New Hampshire state
    representative.

    He said there was "no more professionalized, highly-scrutinized
    group of people in the world than airline pilots."

    The security of the flight deck cannot depend solely on armed sky
    marshals, he said.

    Sky marshals can be picked out of a crowd and, if overpowered, would
    provide a hijacker with a weapon, Giuda said.

    "It's time to throw the gauntlet to the mat. We are going to get
    politicized into unarmed cockpits and then we'll get shot with the
    guns the marshals used because they will be taken away from them,"
    he added.

    Arming pilots introduces the element of "risk, fear and doubt"
    into the mind of a potential hijacker, he said.