Flight attendants support bill to ban knives on planes

Under pressure from lawmakers and flight attendants, the Transportation Security Administration backed off last year on a plan to allow knives on commercial planes.

But flight attendants want to make sure that the ban that began after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks stays in place indefinitely. The Assn. of Flight Attendants is backing a bill to prevent the TSA from ever lifting the knife ban.

“A permanent ban would ensure that we never again have to fight this common-sense issue,” said Corey Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the association, which represents about 60,000 flight attendants.

The bill by Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y) was introduced last week and referred to a homeland security committee.

A TSA spokesman declined to comment on the bill and would not speculate on future changes to the knife ban.

“The administration reversed its earlier decision and nothing has changed,” said TSA spokesman David Castelveter.

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