While some airline groups object to a new U.S. demand that foreign carriers place armed marshals on certain flights to and from the United States, undercover police from neighboring Canada have been blending in with air travelers for more than two years.
The Canadian program began in October 2001 when U.S. authorities required airlines flying into Washington Reagan National Airport to post armed guards on the flights. That duty was taken up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The program has since been widened to cover flights to other destinations.
"It’s on selective domestic, international and transborder flights. It’s done on a risk-threat basis," said Peter Coyles, a spokesman for Transport Canada.
The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that its new air marshal directive went into effect Sunday under emergency amendments to federal aviation regulations.
The International Air Transport Association, which groups about 95 percent of airlines operating international flights, and the British Airline Pilots Association said they opposed the measure. But Britain said armed sky marshals would fly on certain flights.
Canada a potential launching point
Canadian measures are part of a multibillion-dollar program to improve aviation security in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by hijacked airliners, which killed about 3,000 people at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
Since then, some security experts have pointed to Canada as a possible launch point for other airliner attacks on the United States, with fuel-laden jets regularly departing Canadian cities for U.S. or Caribbean destinations.
All of the Sept. 11 aircraft were domestic U.S. flights, and none of the hijackers was connected to Canada.
Canada, which holds its transportation system as one of the safest and most secure in the world, will not discuss staffing levels for its contingent of flying Mounties.
Air Canada, the country’s biggest airline and world’s No. 11, declined to detail its precautions.
"Understandably, we do not discuss specific security measures on our flights, or how they may be adjusted periodically, as this could compromise the effectiveness of those measures," the Montreal-based airline said in a statement.
As part of the tightened security, Ottawa created the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority and, working with the Mounties, established counterparts to the U.S. air marshals.
Canada also began installing explosive-detection systems at airports to screen baggage and reinforced cockpit doors on passenger aircraft.