Asia Pacific airlines say no to armed pilots.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Barbara Mae Dacanay, Contributor

PASSENGERS of any of the 17 Asia Pacific airlines in the region can be sure that the pilots of their planes are not armed.

Despite external pressure, the 17 members of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) agreed at a recent meeting in Cebu City that they would neither arm their pilots nor resort to armed air marshals to fight high-flying terrorists.

"We say no to the proposal that we arm our pilots. Our duty is to protect the lives of people, to secure our planes from terrorists, from the ground level, at the terminal," said Avelino Zapanta, president and chief operation officer of Philippine Airlines, the host of the 46th AAPA meeting.

The chief executives of the Asia Pacific …