What are the governments precise proposals for air marshals?
They are shrouded in security secrecy, but the government is not planning to use armed guards on planes routinely. Rather, they will be used “where appropriate”. That appears to mean when there is a threat against British airlines. The American authorities are demanding precisely this level of security – air marshals must travel on planes entering US airspace which are subject to security concerns. The government has confirmed pilots will be told they will be on board, and crews will be briefed. Q: Why are UK pilots opposed to the idea? For various reasons. They are worried that a firearm carried by a sky marshal could be used against the aircraft or its crew. But most of all they believe that if there is a level of threat that requires sky marshals to be present, the aircraft should not take off at all. If the government was to change its policy, and use armed guards routinely, or randomly, on flights where there is no specific security concern, pilots and airlines would have to think
