Air Canada Will Give Executive Class Passengers Steel Knives, Again

Starting in two weeks, Air Canada's blueblood customers will be able to quit a practice most despise: using plastic knives to carve into slabs of beef tenderloin.

Metal knives will be allowed back on Air Canada effective Sept. 15, three years after Transport Canada and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration approved the measure.

Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Air Canada and other carriers banned metal knives while stepping up their security measures, although they have still offered metal forks and spoons.

While most passengers would acknowledge that airlines were wise to crack down on potential weapons in the wake of the terror attacks, that didn't make it any easier for Air Canada flight attendants, who have had to endure countless complaints over the past four years because of the knife ban.

"I'd say (that), on overseas routes, I get at least one complaint every other flight," said Heather Tregaskas, an Air Canada flight attendant with 37 years' experience.

"You just get customers who have this nice meal and they feel like they're eating with McDonald's utensils," she said. "There's not a lot the flight attendants can do. We just smile. What can you say?"

Air Canada returns steel knives to its flights [CP]

TAGS: aircanada food security

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