UA is removing 787 coughpit barriers

[ChrisFlyer]

Union says United is removing 787 coughpit barriers - National Business - MiamiHerald.com

United Airlines is paying to remove a gate from some of its newest planes that's meant to protect the coughpit from intruders, according to the union for its pilots.
United is getting Boeing Co.'s newest plane, the 787, later this year. Those planes were to come with a folding metal gate that blocks the coughpit when the door is open, according to the Air Line Pilots Association. But United is paying extra to have those gates removed, according to a letter from the union to the airline obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Considering that these barriers are now apparently standard on the 787, it just seems ludicrous that UA would pay extra to have them removed, particularly as half of the aircraft hijacked on 9/11 were UA metal... I could understand if a smaller non-US airline made such a decision to save weight or to maximise a/c space, but not UA...

I realise that these secondary doors/barriers are not a mandated government requirement, but they give an added layer of protection (particularly on longer flights that carry the most fuel and where the coughpit door is opened multiple times during the flight). I've visited the flight deck on a QF A380 before, and have seen first-hand exactly how these doors create a barrier between the passenger cabin and the area outside the coughpit door - allowing the tech crew to make sure they have no followers before opening the main door.

What does everyone think?

 

[docjames]

What does everyone think?

UA basically refuse to comment "for security reasons" but if true:

UA = crazy

 

[Major]

Doesn't make much sense either economically or for security reasons