British airline pilots see the cancellation and delays affecting British Airways flight 223 to Washington as a "shot across the bows" by the US authorities exasperated by BA's reluctance to accept armed on-board marshals, the main pilots' union Balpa said yesterday.
The daily flight from Heathrow to Washington Dulles was cancelled Thursday and Friday due to fears of a terrorist attack, and left hours late on Saturday and Sunday after the US authorities called for extra security checks.
Jim McAuslan, Balpa's general secretary, told The Times: "There is a growing feeling among our members that Flight 223 was grounded as a shot across the bows by the Americans.
"We are concerned it was a political decision to get BA to accept air marshals. Until it does, the US may make life so difficult that the passengers start switching to other airlines."
McAuslan accepted that there had been intelligence reports about terrorist threats, but said the decision to cancel or delay the flight four days in a row had raised doubts among his members.
Mike Street, BA's director of operations, said in a message to staff this weekend: "We will only accept the deployment of an armed police officer on one of our flights if we are satisfied that safety would be enhanced to an acceptable level for the flight to take place.
"If there is security information about a particular flight that gives us cause for concern then we will not operate that flight."
Officials of Balpa were to meet yesterday with British Airways management. The Times said the union had signed an agreement Wednesday with another British airline, Virgin, on the presence of armed marshals on board certain flights to the US.
Under the accord the captain of the plane must be informed of the presence of a marshal, of who he is, where he is sitting, and must be able to keep in permanent contact with him.
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