Watching our flights

Secure Flight, the new U.S. system to keep suspected terrorists off airliners, empowers U.S. Homeland Security to deny boarding passes to Canadian passengers on flights over the United States, that do not land in the U.S.

But Air Canada has confirmed the suspicions of privacy and civil liberties activists that Canadian airlines already screen passengers, using the U.S. no-fly list on non-stop flights that pass over the U.S. when bound for Cuba, Mexico and other southern and European destinations.

Secure Flight came into force in December.

"For flights to and from the U.S., as well as flights overflying the U.S., we are obligated by law to enforce the U.S. no-fly list," Air Canada said in an email to The Gazette.

But no such law exists in Canada.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Watching+flights/2648332/story.html