April 17, 2002

PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE YOU KNOW THAT MIGHT SUPPORT ARMING AIRLINE PILOTS!

The fight to arm airline pilots with firearms marches on. As this is written, we're over seven months past the atrocities of September 11th, 2001. The law is in place that allows for airline pilots to be armed if only the administration will act. We're getting a little impatient but we do have some progress to report. Here's what's up on the arming pilots front.

Pilot Groups Meet, Present Letter to President Bush

On Wednesday, April 3rd, representatives from APSA, APA, ALPA, IPA and CAPA met in Washington D.C. to coordinate strategy on the issue of arming pilots. Also present were high level staffers from the House and Senate offices of Rep. John Hostettler and Sen. Bob Smith. A thorough briefing on liability issues was presented by attorney Walter Kamiat. Dr. John Lott Jr., APSA advisor, was present as were representatives from Washington P.R. firm Craig Shirley and Associates. The meeting was extremely productive and a strategy for moving forward was put in place.

APSA, APA, ALPA, SWAPA and CAPA signed a joint letter to President Bush asking him to move quickly on the issue of arming pilots. We presented the letter to Presidential Advisor Chris Henick at the White House on April 3rd. The letter made quite a splash in the media and brought the issue back to front and center, just where it belongs (it was even mentioned by Jay Leno in his opening monologue).

Media, Media, Media!

All of the sudden, the armed pilot issue was all over the news. CNN, Fox News, Major Networks, print media (including national newspapers) and radio all interviewed pilots from APSA and APA. Recalling that the huge majority of Americans support arming pilots, now is a great time to send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper and to call in to talk radio shows and discuss arming pilots. Keeping this issue in front of the American public is crucial to our eventual success.

Who Decides?

We last left you with our push to get in to see high level officials at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The Aviation and Transportation Security Act signed into law by President Bush gives the authority to decide if pilots will be armed to the Undersecretary of Transportation, Mr. John Magaw. As Undersecretary, Mr. Magaw is the head of the TSA. Thus, TSA will decide if pilots can carry firearms onto the flight deck under existing law.

The day before our joint meeting with the other pilot groups, we received a call from Undersecretary Magaw's office at TSA. We were invited to brief Deputy Undersecretary Steve McHale and Aviation Security Specialist Tom Blank. The briefing was very well received and the questions they asked indicated to us that TSA has given much thought to this issue and that they are seriously considering it. Deputy Undersecretary McHale told us that they have collected ample data, that the threat of future attacks is very serious and that TSA needs to make a decision on the issue of arming pilots quickly. As he said, "The clock is ticking."

After hearing our briefing on arming airline pilots with firearms, Deputy Undersecretary McHale asked us to brief Mr. Tom Quinn, the director of the Federal Air Marshal program. We are in the process of scheduling that briefing as this update is being written. Homeland Security

In a meeting arranged by APSA advisor Dr. John Lott, APSA, ALPA and Dr. Lott will sit down with Gen. Bruce Lawlor at Homeland Security. Even though the decision point is at the White House and TSA, anything we can do to persuade Homeland Security will be a plus. Our briefing is complete and compelling; we have common sense and logic on our side. If we can convince our audience to look beyond emotion and pre-conceived notions, we will convince them of the necessity to arm volunteer airline pilots with firearms.

House Aviation Sub-Committee Hearings

Rep. Mica of Florida, Chairman of the House Aviation Sub-Committee, has decided to hold hearings on the issue of arming airline pilots with firearms. The tentative date is May 2nd and APSA will submit written testimony. We expect that our colleagues at ALPA will testify at the hearings.