The knives almost got their boarding pass but only three days before the take off the flying plans were booted by TSA. The US government had planned to allow some small knives on the planes but the Transport Safety Authority or TSA has decided that it is not yet time for the pocket knives to fly on US flights and delayed the proposal. This is the first time after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 that the US gave a serious thought of allowing small knives on the flights. The policy was supposed to come into action from the 25th of April. The public opposed the proposal from the very beginning and along with the mass the flight attendants also started protested against it strongly. The news was publicly confirmed by the chief of TSA, John Pisotle.
The Transport Safety Authority has said that it will be consulting the Federal Advisory Committee on the matter and check what their opinion is on this matter. The proposal has not been totally cancelled. It has been delayed for now so that the TSA can discuss the matter with the law enforcement officers and advocates of passenger rights. TSA has not announced a date from which the proposal will become effective. The proposal allowed only very small knives on board. The knives that are specifically eligible according to the proposal can be no more than 6 centimeters in length and only half inches in width. In addition to the specifications regarding the length and width the knives are not allowed to have fixed blades or a molded grip.
After the terrorist attack on the twin-towers on 11th November, 2001 the US government had banned a lot of items that passengers used to carry casually. These items include golf clubs, small knives, baseball bats and ski poles among many others. The Transport Safety Authority announced that they will allow some of the banned items again on board. They said that this proposal is a part of making the security officials focus more on finding dangerous weapons or explosives. They will not have to waste their time or resources on small things like the pocket knives. The proposal, if passed, will get the US aviation industry at par with the international aviation sectors.
The TSA chief addressed a letter to his high officials declaring that the ban on knives and other prohibited objects will continue for now, after his meeting with the aviation security authorities. Pisotle has been facing lots of criticism and protest from the survivors of 9/11 attacks, flight attendants and public in general to keep the ban on. The Coalition of Airline Pilot Associations is among the prime protestors of this proposal.
