Sky marshals demand star treatment, threaten to quit

New Delhi: Sky marshals, national security guards on board a flight to encounter any terror threat, have threatened to stop flying on
Mumbai-Kathmandu sector complaining of insufficient food and lodging arrangements by airlines, as per an official letter a copy of which is with ET.
The civil aviation ministry has written to all the carriers flying on the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) sector to treat flying commandos at par with their crew members.
“Providing accommodation to sky marshals is not binding on airlines. However, we have asked carriers to treat on-board guards at par with the crew members,” a senior aviation ministry official, who did not wish to be quoted, said. Following an intelligence input that Pakistan-based terror groups were planning to hijack an Indian flight, the government had put flights to neighbouring countries, such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, on high alert. It directed all carriers, especially Air India, to take extra security measures besides asking the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to deploy sky marshals on aircraft operating in the region. A person familiar with the development said that sky marshals were asking for five-star accommodation which airlines have refused. National carrier Air India and Jet Airways operate direct flights to Kathmandu.
10/03/10 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2010, Indian Aviation- In General Mar 2010, Safety Mar 2010