For Immediate Release!
July 16, 2002
For more information, contact:
Jack
Riepe, ACTE Communications
1-610-256-0124 or [email protected]
Nation's Business Travel Experts Come Out Against Arming Pilots
Alexandria, July 16 -- Arming the nation's pilots as an additional security
measure is a bad idea, according to ranking executives responsible for
corporate America's business travel interests. Responding to a poll conducted
by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, 73 percent stated that
guns and cockpits don't mix. This poll reflects a much broader gap between
proponents and opponents of armed pilots than earlier surveys taken at
airports.
"Business travel managers want a stronger emphasis on airline security, but
they are emphatically against arming pilots or introducing firearms to the
cockpit," said ACTE President Cheryl Hutchinson. The survey revealed that 27
percent of respondents favored arming pilots, while 1 percent said they might
agree to arming pilots provided certain training considerations or weapons
restrictions were required. "The people who advise corporate America how to
travel in the most efficient and cost effective manner believe that pilots
should concentrate on flying the plane, while aircraft security is best
provided by air marshals and bulletproof cockpit doors," said Hutchinson.
Survey responses flooded ACTE's polling mechanism Friday, July 15, just
minutes after the questionnaire was transmitted. "Americans tend to have
divided opinions when it comes to firearms," said Hutchinson. "It's apparent
the lines are more clearly drawn when it comes to guns and planes." Survey
respondents cited the increased chances of a firearms accident in the
cockpit, the opportunity for a gun to fall into the wrong hands, or even the
unlikely opportunity for an unbalanced crew member to seize a gun as ample
reasons to support other security measures.
The association initiated the poll just as a bill to arm cockpit personnel
passed in the House of Representatives last week. A slightly different bill
is expected to pass in the Senate.
"Business travel managers tend to regard this latest congressional debate as
another stopgap security measure. Ten months after 9/11, airport security
checkpoints are still failing federal inspections, while traveler
inconvenience is at an all-time high. At this point, we expected the federal
government to be a lot further along with tighter security for aircraft and
airports," said Hutchinson.
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives was founded in 1988 as the
business travel research and education resource for corporate America. The
United States-based association now has offices in Belgium and Singapore,
with 2,500 members in 36 countries.
Founded
in 1988, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) is
a member-driven organisation wholly dedicated to the science of
business travel management with an international constituency. ACTE
membership totals more than 2,400, including business travel executives
in Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America
and the United States. The organisation is headquartered in Alexandria,
Va., with regional offices located in Brussels, and Singapore. ACTE's
web site is www.acte.org.
