LONDON - Britain's airline pilots union advised its members yesterday not to fly planes with armed sky marshals on board until agreement is reached on the way the initiative is deployed.
The British Air Line Pilots Association also called for an emergency world summit of airline pilots to consider a
United States demand for gun-toting marshals to ride on some flights to counter any threat of on-board terrorist attacks.
The 7000-member union - which represents 75 per cent of all pilots and flight engineers in Britain - wants security assurances about the safety of the sky marshal initiative.
Observers said the union's position amounted to the threat of selective strike action over the idea of armed plainclothes sky marshals in the passenger cabin of selected British airline flights.
Sweden would prefer to ground a US-bound passenger jet if there was a serious threat rather than allow armed sky marshals aboard, its Civil Aviation Administration said yesterday.
- AGENCIES
