Airlines tiff likely to ground sky marshals

New Delhi: Flights to and from Kolkata could become vulnerable in the near future thanks to some of the airlines dilly-dallying over the maintenance of sky marshals.
Matters have come to such a flashpoint that Air India has threatened to pull out of arrangements unless the airlines pay up for providing "lodging and boarding" to the elite commandos who keep the sky safe.
Sky marshals are undercover law enforcement agents on board commercial flights to counter hijackings.
Since 2000, the air marshals have been operating on more than 40 domestic and international flights. All these years Air India has been bearing the lodging and boarding expenses of the sky marshals employed in all the carriers, including private.
This is because the National Security Guard (NSG), responsible for providing sky marshals for all flights taking off or landing in Kolkata, prefers to interact with one designated airline for better co-ordination.
The other airlines are in turn supposed to reimburse Air India for the expenses.
But it is learnt that Jet Airways and Kingfisher have failed to comply with their part of the agreement, leading to the stand-off.
22/04/10 Ajmer Singh/Mail Today/India Today

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Categories: Airports Apr 2010, Jet Airways Apr 2010, Kingfisher Apr 2010, NACIL Apr 2010, Safety Apr 2010