ALPA's Communications Department provides information and support for news
media inquiries. An ALPA communications representative can be reached in the Herndon, Va.
office at (703) 481-4440.
News Release
Release
#03.003
January 24, 2003
While ALPA has strongly supported most of TSA’s actions to increase aviation
security, this rule clearly crosses the line separating legitimate security
measures from secretive, unaccountable government conduct.
The
rule mandates that the FAA revoke the airman certificate (applicable to
pilots, mechanics, and dispatchers) of any person who is determined by TSA to
be a “security threat”. Such
action would effectively end that worker’s employment in the airline
industry.
While
the rule spells out in clear detail the process by which the revocation would
occur, there is absolutely no discussion of standards, procedures, or criteria
by which the TSA might make a determination that an individual is a
“security threat”.
Furthermore,
while the individual may appeal the initial finding, there is no provision for
the individual to obtain any information as to why or how the determination
was made, which makes the appeal virtually an empty exercise.
The
unanswered questions about how one is determined by TSA to be a “security
threat” should evoke a chill in every American. Pilots and other workers would be unable to invoke the
traditional right to access and refute the information that is being used
against them.
Airline
pilots, mechanics, and other airline workers already are required to clear a
10-year criminal background check with fingerprinting.
Conviction for a wide range of crimes, ranging from serious violations
to relatively minor infractions, already will effectively end an airline
worker’s employment in the name of security.
This latest rule apparently lowers the bar to mere suspicions that are
not the result of the kind of due process that most Americans would expect
before they are branded as a security threat.
ALPA
represents 66,000 airline pilots at 42 airlines in the U.S. and Canada.
Its Web site is http://www.alpa.org.