Knives: Airline CEOs side with attendants vs. TSA

US Airways CEO Doug Parker has asked the Transportation Security Administration to "reconsider" its decision to allow small folding knives past airport security.

With that, Parker joins a growing list of politicians and industry officials hoping to convince the TSA to reverse its decision regarding knives.

Also Tuesday, two U.S. representatives introduced legislation against the TSA's change. And, at Delta, the CEO of the nation's second-biggest carrier spoke out against allowing knives on planes last week.

As for Parker, he sent a letter to TSA chief John Pistole on Monday asking the agency to keep the ban on knives intact.

"US Airways fully supports the continuous review and amendment of TSA polices. We also understand and support the risk-based assessment employed by the TSA," Parker writes in the letter. "However, this review and policy amendment process is most effective when it is conducted in a collaborative way with the airlines and their flight crews. In particular, seeking input before implementing a policy change that might put our flight attendants' safety at risk would have provided a more thoughtful path to the desired outcome of secure and safe air travel."

Aviation insurers as well as unions representing flight attendants, pilots and federal air marshals have also publicly opposed the plan. Flight attendants have voiced the most vigorous opposition, saying it unnecessarily puts them and their passengers at risk.

Delta CEO Richard Anderson echoed that sentiment in his own letter to the TSA. In that letter from March 8, Anderson told Pistole that he shares the "legitimate concerns" of his airline's attendants about TSA's decision.

Anderson added that such a move "will add little value to the customer security process flow in relation to the additional risk for our cabin staff and customers."

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, U.S. Rep. Ed Markey on Tuesday called the TSA's plan "wrong-headed" and announced legislation that will force the agency not to implement the rules.

Markey held up a Swiss army knife at Boston's Logan International Airport when he announced that he is filing the bipartisan "No Knives Act" to stop the new TSA regulations from going into effect on April 25. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a Republican from New York's Staten Island.

Flight attendants, pilots and federal law enforcement officers opposed the rule change, Markey said. The Democrat from suburban Boston was joined by representatives of flight attendants and pilot unions at Logan airport, from where terrorists armed with knives and box-cutters hijacked two planes that were flown into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

"On 9/11, we learned that in the confines of an airline cabin, even a small knife can lead to devastating consequences," Markey said.

Other prominent politicians have second-guessed the TSA's decision as well. Among those is Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

"While it's true that pilots are safe, locked behind cockpit doors, these dangerous items still pose a significant hazard to the flight crew, other passengers, and even the integrity of the plane," Schumer said this past weekend.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.