January 2, 2010
Delta Air Lines’ CEO is upset the passengers and crew members aboard Flight 253 over Detroit were put at risk by a terrorism suspect despite Delta’s compliance with government security measures.
Richard Anderson told employees in a recorded message Thursday that airlines have done everything the government has asked since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to follow heightened security rules.
He said that should have brought a better result than the peril those aboard the Christmas flight from the Netherlands to Detroit faced. Delta will insist Washington do a better job, he said.
“Having this occur again is disappointing to all of us,” Anderson said. “You can be certain we will make our points very clearly in Washington.”
Authorities say Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried and failed to blow up the Northwest Airlines flight. Delta owns Northwest.
Scott Stewart, an expert in corporate security with Stratfor, a global intelligence firm, said such comments from a CEO are highly unusual.
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“Partially, he’s right,” Stewart said about Anderson. “The government dropped the ball big time” in not canceling Abdulmutallab’s visa after his father reported him to U.S. consulate officials in Nigeria, Stewart said.
But, he added, “It’s not just the government’s fault. The airlines are also responsible for security.”
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