In Brief

Still Armed and Flying

By CSO Contributor

February 01, 2005 — CSO — Agents in the U.S. Federal Air Marshal Service remain on the job three years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Recent media reports, based on anonymous sources, have raised concerns about the low number of U.S. flights that are covered by air marshals. There are over 27,000 flights every day, and air marshals go on only "targeted critical flights," according to David Adams, an air marshal spokesman in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the Department of Homeland Security.

The actual number of air marshals is classified, but the number of air marshals now flying each month is more than the total number of air marshal flights between the program's start in 1965 and Sept. 11, 2001, Adams says. Anonymous sources that underestimate the number of air marshals do a disservice to the program, he adds.

The Bush administration's fiscal year 2005 budget cut the air marshal program from $626 million to $613 million, but a DHS funding bill passed by Congress in October allocated $662 million for the program. (The service had a budget of $466 million in fiscal year 2003.) Plans call for hiring more agents in 2005, Adams says.

The service is satisfied that the funding will cover its needs, Adams adds. "Any agency is going to say they want more people," he says.

The Air Line Pilots Association has in the past noted that air marshals fly on a limited number of flights, but association spokesman John Mazor says the program can serve as a deterrent even with limited numbers of air marshals flying.

Still, Mazor acknowledges that the association would welcome more air marshals on flights.

Air marshal officials call the 11-week training program for new agents one of the most rigorous in law enforcement. "The life of a federal air marshal is 30,000 feet, 200 passengers on board and a potential felony in progress," Adams says. "They can't call for backup; there's no room for error."