Bahamasair officials may be forced to put sky marshals aboard some of the airline’s flights in response to an order from the United States, which follows heightened terror alert levels in that country.
The U.S. said recently that it will soon require the sky marshals onboard some international passenger and cargo flights flying to, from and over the United States.
Airline carriers that do not comply with the order will not be allowed into U.S. territory, authorities said.
The order comes less than a week after Air France cancelled six flights between Paris and Los Angeles on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day after receiving intelligence that terrorists had planned to strike.
Armed air marshals are already deployed on many U.S. airline flights.
Bahamasair’s Deputy General Manager of Operations Henry Woods told the Bahama Journal Tuesday that airline officials received notification on Monday from U.S. authorities of the order.
“At the moment our director of security is in discussions with FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) to find out how they went about planning and implementing their security measures,” he said.
“We have to approach the government at the ministry level to determine first of all if and when we have to do it and how we will go about selecting and training individuals and how we would incorporate that into present air legislation. Because when you talk about air marshals and armed carriage, it’s a different kettle of fish.”
Mr. Woods said although the airline is in the initial fact-finding stages it will ensure that measures are enacted to the U.S. government’s satisfaction.
He added that the notice his airline received is an “on-demand” situation, which means that in the event of a threat Bahamasair will be notified.
“It’s not an ongoing thing,” he explained. “If they perceive a threat they will inform us and we will act.”
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Mark Wilson said in the event that there is a requirement for sky marshals to be placed on board Bahamasair flights, the Department of Transport and Civil Aviation along with the Ministry of National Security would provide trained personnel from both the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.
Rogan Smith, The Bahama Journal
