Airline Pilots ‘Gun-Shy’ of TSA’s Armed Pilot Program

Washington, DC, January 27, 2004 - - The Airline Pilots Security Alliance (APSA) today denounced the offensive mischaracterization of commercial airline pilots in comments made by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesman Mark Hatfield on MSNBC’s Dan Abrams’ Show on Wednesday, January 21, 2004.

That night, in a live, televised exchange with APSA Vice-President of Government Affairs, Captain Robert Sproc, who was detailing the serious deficiencies in the TSA’s Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program, TSA spokesman Mark Hatfield said, “The fact is, in your world, sir, these ‘hero pilots’ will be stopping armed robberies in 7-Elevens or saving women from street thugs…”

Sproc, later said of Hatfield’s comment, “We don’t want to be ‘heroes.’  We have enough heroes in the more than 3,000 souls who perished on September 11.  We want the [FFDO] program fixed.” 

APSA President Captain David Mackett said of the exchange:  “It is regrettable that the TSA harbors such hostility toward commercial airline pilots.  It is equally unfortunate that the TSA has such misconceptions about our organization, which is seeking nothing more than an armed pilot program that embraces common sense, and encourages the full participation and support of America’s professional airline pilots.”   

“Mr. Hatfield forgets that commercial airline pilots are now on the front lines of the war on terror – and we didn’t ask to be there.  Nor did our colleagues who perished on September 11.  The reality of our profession today, sad as it may be, is that we need a robust Federal Flight Deck Officer program to provide a last line of defense against a repeat of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 -- not the shell of a program the TSA has deliberately saddled us with.”  

“Great strides could be made in improving the program if the TSA were not so blatantly antagonistic to it,” Mackett said.  “The TSA has disqualified former police officers, firearms instructors and military pilots who were already cleared to carry nuclear weapons -- from flying armed.  When the pilots saw that, more than thirty-thousand thousand volunteers changed their minds.” 

“In this politically-charged year, we hope our elected officials will see that we need more than rhetoric to fill the gaps in aviation security.  If the TSA is not fully committed to working in an environment of mutual respect with America’s professional airline pilots, we urge our elected officials to give the FFDO program to an agency that is."