Talks with private airlines on sky marshals

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 30. To ensure foolproof security in the Indian aviation sector, the Government is holding active parleys with private airline operators in the country to convince them about the deployment of sky marshals on board the flights.

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr. Shahnawaz Hussain, said today one round of talks had been held between senior officials of the Ministry and airline operators, including big players in the field like Jet Airways and Air Sahara. Another round of talks is likely to take place in the next few days, the Minister added. Countering reports that private operators have expressed their opposition to the deployment of sky marshals, Mr. Hussain said the mood of the private operators during the meeting appeared to be `positive'.

``There can't be any compromise on the security of passengers and even private operators realise this,'' he stressed. The talks are being held after the Government made it mandatory for private operators to deploy sky marshals on all domestic flights to foil hijack attempts.

Commandos of the National Security Guards (NSG) are already being deployed on Indian Airlines flights as a security precaution. Special training on aviation security is being imparted to these commandos to deal with any incident of aircraft hijacking. However, no decision has so far been taken on the deployment of sky marshals on Air India flights. Mr. Hussain said the Government was awaiting international guidelines on the issue before making suitable security arrangements on aircraft operating under the country's flagship carrier.

- UNI

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