[lbo-talk] Flight BA223 Cancelled...Again

[Dwayne Monroe]

[Here's the thing; although officials in the UK and
the US are selling these repeated cancellations,
re-screenings of passengers, re-examinations of
baggage and all the rest of the re-dos as necessary
caution, it smells of a total lack of confidence in
the system they've established.  They don't trust
their passenger screenings, their luggage searches,
their scanning devices - none of it - to work as
advertised.  DRM]

...

from Yahoo! -

http://tinyurl.com/2k899

...

British Flight to Washington Delayed Again

	

LONDON - A British Airways flight from London to
Washington, canceled twice this week because of
security fears, was delayed again on Sunday for
security checks requested by the United States. The
British transport secretary warned that security
alerts could be a feature of international airline
travel for years to come.

The airline canceled Flight BA223 from Heathrow to
Washington's Dulles airport on Thursday and Friday on
government advice. The same flight was delayed for
more than three hours on Saturday for security checks.

British Airways spokesman Paul Parry said that U.S.
officials had requested extra security information
about Sunday's flight, which was supposed to take off
at 10:05 a.m. EST.

"They (U.S. officials) have requested to be supplied
with extra information about the flight for security
purposes before takeoff to Washington, the same as
happened yesterday," he said.

British Transport Secretary Alistair Darling on Sunday
warned travelers to expect an increased number of
security alerts in coming years.

Darling declined to comment on media reports that the
British government had received intelligence that
al-Qaida was planning to use the flights to launch
suicide attacks on prominent targets in the United
States.

But he said the decision to cancel the flights, as
well as one to the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, were
justified on the basis of intelligence warnings.

"What I can say is that I fear that for many years to
come we are going to be living in an age where there
is going to be a heightened state of alert. Sometimes
it will be quite severe, at other times perhaps less
so," Darling told the British Broadcasting Corp.
program "Breakfast with Frost."

"We are going to have to get used to increased
security at airports. From time to time that will be
noticeable and at other times maybe things will be
going on behind the scenes," he said.

British Airways has not yet decided whether Monday's
scheduled flight to Riyadh will go ahead.