But do they get frequent flyer miles? Undercover federal air marshals routinely fly first class on commercial flights, a practice airlines are trying to end because they say it is expensive and unjustified by current security concerns. The trade group Air Transport Association and the heads of several airlines recently asked the Federal Air Marshals Service and the Transportation Security Administration to move marshals to seats farther back in planes, USA Today reported.
After 9/11, an expanded number of undercover and armed marshals were placed on various flights in first class, where they could protect the cockpit door. But the airlines and certain security experts told the newspaper that these days cockpit doors are more secure and the threat of hijackers or bombers is just as great throughout an aircraft.
"We want to be absolutely sure that TSA is considering the risk level on board the airplane in determining the placement of the (marshals)," the airline association's David Castelveter said.
The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which represents marshals, is not happy that the airlines made their complaint public. The group's president, John Adler, said any information that could expose the marshals' tactics to terrorists is inappropriate.
He told USA Today the airlines' statements were inaccurate and said he wrote to the House Homeland Security Committee suggesting the executives be reprimanded.
"They are sitting in the bleachers, and they don't have access to the playbook," he said.
