Another Reason Travellers Will Avoid US
The Register reports, “US demands air passengers ask its permission to fly.”
Under new rules proposed by the Transport Security Administration (TSA) (pdf), all airline passengers would need advance permission before flying into, through, or over the United States regardless of citizenship or the airline’s national origin.
Currently, the Advanced Passenger Information System, operated by the Customs and Border Patrol, requires airlines to forward a list of passenger information no later than 15 minutes before flights from the US take off (international flights bound for the US have until 15 minutes after take-off). Planes are diverted if a passenger on board is on the no-fly list.
The new rules mean this information must be submitted 72 hours before departure. Only those given clearance will get a boarding pass. The TSA estimates that 90 to 93 per cent of all travel reservations are final by then.
Well, this will empty some seats on US-bound planes, and persuade more people to avoid traveling to America altogether. BIzarre. Counterproductive. Paranoid.
Also unsurprising, sadly.
This is a proposed idea, not something being implemented. I think the title “US demands air passengers ask its permission to fly” is somewhat misleading on this point. It feels like one of those things likely to die on the vine, being a logistical nightmare, long before we get to how awful it is.
What is worse is the US demands US carriers call for permission if you end up on “the list” even when the start or end point is not the US.
Speaking from personal experience, United had to call for approval for United flight from Taipei to Tokyo. That’s just ridiculous.
Paranoid?
I would say otherwise, unless you have forgotten 9/11? America has every God damn right to protect it’s self, it’s people and it’s borders as it sees fit, and if this measure goes some way to prevent another attack by any magnitude then that has got to be right.
My only wish would be that the UK government took steps to tighten our own borders in the same way, not just in regards to European in bound flights, but the wider world as well. All it takes is one person with enough determination to cause as much damage as possible, to succeed.
Personally, I know what I’d do if it were upto me, unfortunately it isn’t :(