The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is having some problems with its air marshal program. It seems that office politics has resulted in allegations of illegal discrimination, retaliation and mismanagement within the agency and airlines are pushing back against having to always provide first-class seats to marshals.
The office misconduct and the allegations of illegal discrimination, retaliation and mismanagement from a legal perspective are perhaps the most troubling. The complaints seem to be relatively national, however Orlando and Cincinnati have been selected as “worst offenders.”
The committee has been examining a national pattern of misconduct within the Federal Air Marshal Service but singled out the Cincinnati and Orlando, Fla., field offices as possibly the worst two offices in the country.
The allegations came to light in six civil rights lawsuits filed in federal court in Covington over the past three years despite the U.S. Attorney’s Office success in sealing most of the pleadings in the case. Federal authorities cited national security.
When these kinds of complaints come out of a tight law-enforcement environment, there it probably a real problem that needs to be dealt with swiftly. Not only are internal investigators from DHS combing through the Cincinnati office files, but there is also a Congressional oversight committee at work at the same time.
The oversight committee stepped in after receiving allegations of systemic retaliation against potential witnesses in the Cincinnati suits. In one case, six air marshals filed affidavits in federal court alleging retaliatory conduct by Cincinnati supervisors after they were asked to provide statements in support of one of the air marshals suing.
With this much federal attention, someone is not going to come out of these investigations well.
Focused on first class
Another air marshal problem is seating on aircraft. This may have everything to do with money, but then again, ATA’s explanation seems to make sense from a security point of view. It seems that air marshals always fly first class and end up bumping some paying customers and certainly making upgrades tougher for frequent fliers.
Naturally, this has resulted in grumbling from frequent fliers who hate to be denied the wider seats and additional comfort and from airlines who covet the dollars and cents they bring in from the premium seats.
By law, airlines must provide seats to marshals at no cost in any cabin requested. With first-class and business-class seats in particular, the revenue loss to airlines can be substantial because they can’t sell last-minute tickets or upgrades, and travelers sometimes get bumped to the back or lose out on upgrade opportunities. When travelers do get bumped, airlines are barred from divulging why the first-class seat was unexpectedly taken away, to keep the presence of a marshal a secret. Bumped travelers—airlines can’t disclose how many passengers are affected—typically get coach seats and refunds on the cash or miles they paid for the better seat.
In a recent episode, the Air Transport Association said, a flight from Europe to the U.S. was about to depart with at least six marshals already on board in multiple cabins when a rival carrier canceled a flight. Marshals from that flight came over to demand first-class seats on the flight that was leaving. The airline refused, saying it would cancel the flight rather than empty the first-class cabin. Marshals backed off, airline officials say. Mr. Minerly of the Federal Air Marshal Service said he was unfamiliar with the incident, and that the agency does not comment on specific cases.
My bet is that air marshals will not be denied first-class or business-class seating when there is space available, but they will end up more often in the back of the plane where the most recent threats have been focused.
Airline officials say that since the Christmas Day attempt to blow up a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, marshals have been assigned to more international trips, sometimes as many as six or more to a flight. Both the shoe-bombing and Christmas Day-bombing attempts occurred in coach.
Only a small percentage of flights have air marshals and they are deployed based on perceived threats. But their very presence provides another deterrence to would-be terrorists.
The federal air marshals program is getting grief from internal investigators and from external partners. This kind of attention can not be good for the secretive agency or its morale.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
