Crosspost evleth brings you OT stuff boring stuff about the US again
Old polluter
"Earl Evleth" a écrit dans le message de groupe de
discussion : ...
I had to handle passport registration for my wife's British Airway
flight to the USA and back. She has a US passport (and French)
so usually has no visa hassles. I registered the required information
twice into a BOA web site (an e-mail requested information) and
each time I logged back on they still did not have it.
The US has a visa waiver policy with most European countries,
as those countries have with the US. It is reciprocal. But
recently the US changed the rules requiring pre-flight information
and a special form be filed via the internet. The European
countries don't hae such a requirement, so the situation is
no loner authentically reciprocal. American egocentric exceptionalism
is always doing this kind of thing.
European Officials Broadly Criticize U.S. Airport Security Methods
By JULIA WERDIGIER
Published: October 27, 2010
LONDON Several European officials questioned American requirements for
airport security on Wednesday, a day after the chairman of British Airways
criticized Britain for bowing too quickly to Washingtonıs demands.
Add to Portfolio
The chairman, Martin Broughton, said at a conference on Tuesday that
Britain
should not ³kowtow to the Americans every time they wanted something done²
with aviation security procedures.
Especially irritating, Mr. Broughton said, according to The Financial
Times,
was the requirement that passengers take off their shoes and remove their
laptops from their luggage during security checks. The practice should be
abandoned, he said. A representative for British Airways confirmed that he
made the remarks.
The complaints added to the discontent and frustration among passengers,
airlines and airport operators in Europe over the ever-changing safety
requirements and the long waiting times at security screening points in
airports. Executives from other carriers and airports echoed the
criticisms
from British Airways.
Some airlines have repeatedly called for more sophisticated scanning
machines to replace procedural safety measures like requiring passengers
to
pack liquids separately.
Virgin Atlantic said on Wednesday that it had pleaded ³for many years² for
new security procedures that would be ³effective but quicker and less
intrusive on our passengers.²
Lufthansa of Germany was more circumspect, The Associated Press reported.
A
Lufthansa spokesman, Jan Baerwald, told The A.P. that airlines have ³had
more and more regulations since 9/11.²
But, he added, ³Iım not going to say it is Lufthansaıs opinion that it is
too strict that is not for us to say.²
BAA, the company that operates Heathrow airport, argued that there was
room
to consider an overhaul of the current safety regulation and said that it
was ³committed to ensuring passengers are safe and that we also constantly
improve the levels of service we offer.²
Mr. Broughton specifically criticized the United States for burdening
European airports and airlines with what he called ³redundant² checks,
added
a new twist to the debate.
He also criticized Washington for not imposing certain safety restrictions
on domestic flights that it requires from flights to and from the United
States.
Even within Britain, however, there have been discussions about updated
airport security. A plan by the British government this year to introduce
body scanners at airports was met with strong opposition in Parliament.
The
new coalition government is now reviewing the need for scanners and
whether
they violate the privacy of passengers. (The United States has started to
introduce body scanners in some airports.)
Mike Carrivick, chief executive of the Board of Airline Representatives,
which represents more than 80 airlines, including British Airways, Delta
and
Continental, joined Mr. Broughtonıs call for a safety overhaul and said
³letıs step back and have a look at the whole situation.²
³Every time there is a new security scare, an extra layer is added on to
procedures,² Mr. Carrivick said. ³Letıs look at technology and see what we
can do so that passengers donıt have to take off their shoes.²
The Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday in Washington
that
officials ³constantly review and evolve our security measures based on the
latest intelligence.² It also said it ³works closely with our
international
partners to ensure the best possible security.²
The British government on Wednesday distanced itself from the debate and
said that the additional security rules requested by Washington were a
matter for the airlines flying passengers to the United States. But a
representative for the Department for Transport in Britain added that the
coalition government was reviewing its airport security regulation and
considering giving airport operators more flexibility in how they meet
certain security goals.
British airport security regulation, like that of other European
countries,
is based on standards set by the European Union. ³Our security measures go
further than the minimum set by the E.U., and we have one of the safest
systems in the world,² the British airport representative said.
The European Commission also criticized air security measures for entry to
the United States , saying that a so-called Electronic System for Travel
Authorization was impeding travel, difficult to comply with and raised a
possible threat to privacy.
The system requires European passengers to register before traveling to
the
United States, which ³represents a burden for European citizens,² Michele
Cercone, a spokesman for the commission, told a news conference in
Brussels.
The procedure is also ³inconsistent with the commitment by the U.S. to
facilitate trans-Atlantic mobility.²
Mr. Cercone said commission authorities were examining whether the system
was ³tantamount² to introducing visas on all European Union nationals.
Citizens from Poland, Bulgaria and Romania must get a visa to travel to
the
United States. And while citizens from all other European Union countries
are covered by a visa waiver program, they must still register. An
estimated
13 million Europeans traveled to the United States in 2009.
He said that the system had become vulnerable to ³scam² Web sites and
³fraudulent operations.² That, he said, should prompt the United States to
³give a second thought² to the system.
In addition, it was unclear to the European authorities whether privacy
was
adequately protected, even when Europeans were able to pay for the
registration by credit card. Mr. Cercone said the commission wanted to
know
whether credit card details were retained or used for purposes other than
those for which they were collected, and he suggested that there needed to
be safeguards.
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