Why is it that economy class passengers get plastic cutlery, while Business
and First Class ones are metal? Do the authorities seriously think that a
terrorist isn¹t bright enough to book a business class ticket and get hold
of metal cutlery that way? Dave Richardson, Halifax
Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: In the aftermath of
the September 11 attacks, metal cutlery was banned from aircraft cabins. The
terrorists in the USA used sharpened box cutters, and it was thought unsafe
to allow other sharp items in the cabin.
However, since April 25, 2005, those rules have been relaxed, and metal
cutlery can once again be used by the airlines. Security has been improved
considerably, with strengthened and lockable cockpit doors, more sky
marshals on flights, increased us of CCTV, and better airline staff
training, have lead to the change of heart.
So in fact, metal cutlery in Business Class and First Class cabins is now
purely a product difference brought about by the airlines, which find that
using plastic cutlery in the Economy Class cabin is cheaper in the materials
it uses, and also saves food and handling costs in being made from a much
lighter material.
There are still some security criteria to be met, in that the knives have to
be rounded at the end, and the fork prongs need to be particularly short,
but manufacturers have quickly produced a range of suitable cutlery.
The rules also cover knitting needles and small scissors. For a list of all
the banned items in an aircraft cabin, see the Department
for Transport list.
I assume fire axes are on the "banned" list, yet there's at least one on board each aircraft and infinitely more dangerous than a fork.
Ann, Didsbury,
Some airlines do use metal cutlery in economy. i've flown long haul with KLM and Austrian this year and both have served their meals with metal cutlery, though KLM's food was a poor pre-packed apology, while Austrian served one of the best meals I have had on a plane for a long while.
Rupert Dyer, Armitage, Staffs, UK
Why not take it the next step and notice that SOME children are born on this planet "set for life" due to family bloodlines (old money), and some are born to a life of servitude aboard the pyramid-o-servitude-infestation called capitalism (see backside of USA dollar for pyramid scheme symbol).
Wingnut, Bessemer MI, USA