WashingtonWire - 2005-06-06
U.S. Agencies Inflight Cell Phone Use Poses Risks
The U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Justice threw cold water on a proposal to lift the current ban on inflight use of cell phones, alleging it might enable terrorists to coordinate operations. In a joint statement to the Federal Communications Commission, which is reconsidering the prohibition, Homeland Security and Justice officials also cautioned that lifting current restrictions would lead to more "air rage'' confrontations between passengers and flight crews. "The commission should carefully examine public safety and national security-related concerns before modifying, relaxing, or lifting its current ban,'' the departments said.
The federal government has banned the use of mobile phones during flight since 1991, when there were less than 8 million cell phone users, because of concern the devices would interfere with an aircraft's communication with the ground. Now, there are more than 182 million cell phone customers, and FCC in December announced it was considering lifting the prohibition. The Federal Aviation Administration is researching whether inflight use of cell phones would interfere with airplanes' navigational systems. A new rule may be issued in the next year.
More than 7,500 comments have been filed with FCC since the December proposal, including the joint statement by the Homeland Security and Justice departments. The wireless communication industry said FCC should ensure inflight use of cell phones won't interfere with users on the ground, while the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, a union representing 46,000 flight attendants, said lifting the current ban would cause more disruptive behavior on flights. The Air Line Pilots Association called lifting the ban "very premature'' and urged close coordination with FAA.
U.S., Netherlands to Pilot 'Trusted Traveler Program'
The United States will test a voluntary program to speed U.S. entry for travelers who undergo advanced background checks and submit biometric information to prove they're not terrorists, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. A "trusted traveler'' program will debut in the fall for travelers between Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and JFK Airport in New York, Chertoff said in a joint announcement with Dutch Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk. The test comes amid a feud over American demands that all travelers from Europe have biometric passports by the end of October. The European Commission recently urged delay of the mandate until August 2006, saying most countries will be unable to comply.
Select volunteers in the U.S.-Dutch project must agree to be fingerprinted or have their eyes scanned, according to an official statement by the Dutch national news agency NIS. In exchange, they will be permitted to pass through customs "without extensive security checks,'' the statement said. Some customs queues can back up for hours as immigration officials conduct background checks on arriving passengers.
Chertoff has spent much of the past month talking up the program. "If we had a true system for providing necessary passenger information in advance of travel, securing it against improper or inappropriate dissemination or distribution, that would actually foster privacy, that would have less intrusive checking at the border, checking at the doorway to the airline, easier travel which means a greater sense of freedom,'' Chertoff said in a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., on May 19.
IRS Issues New Limits on Personal Use of Corporate Jets
Mixing business with pleasure using the company jet just got more expensive. The Internal Revenue Service issued rules May 27 that administer a new law limiting depreciation costs companies deduct when executives use the company jet for entertainment purposes, including personal stopovers on business trips, such as a golf outing en route a shareholder meeting.
"Generally, 'entertainment use' is considered an amusement or recreational activity, such as traveling to a sporting event or to a vacation destination,'' the Treasury Department said. "If the purpose of the trip is business-related entertainment, the limitation applies to the executive as well.'' Before the new law, enacted last October, executives who used their company's jet for personal purposes were required to report as income the value of the perk using a formula roughly equal to a first-class ticket on a commercial aircraft. The company deducted the entire cost of operating the airplane, which was typically far higher than the income amount reported by the executive.
The new rules let companies deduct only the amount executives report as perk income, effectively denying thousands of dollars in tax breaks per flight.