Survey says 90% don’t want knives on planes
The pressure continues to mount on the Transportation Security Administration to prohibit passengers from bringing small pocket knives into the cabins of commercial planes.
Opponents of allowing knives on planes unveiled a survey last week that found 90% of likely voters don’t want the TSA to lift the ban that has been in place since 9/11.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find another issue in today’s discourse that so many people agree on,” said Laura Glading, president of the Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants, which commissioned the survey by the global research firm Penn Schoen Berland. “It’s a no-brainer.”
Debate over the issue has become heated since the TSA announced in March plans to modify the list of banned carry-on items by allowing passengers to bring small pocket knives, golf clubs, hockey sticks and novelty bats aboard. The TSA said the move would let airport screeners focus on bigger threats, such as explosives.
But only days before the new policy was to take effect, TSA chief John Pistole announced that he would delay the new knife policy to first consider the comments of security and aviation experts. No date has been set to implement the change.
[Updated May 21, 2:20 p.m.: The online survey questioned 1,206 likely voters May 7-9 and has a margin of error of 2.83 percentage points.]
ALSO:
On American Airlines, pack light, board early
Summer forecast: Crowded airports and planes
