Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- American Airlines flight attendants are urging the world's largest carrier to filter its in-flight Internet service to block access to pornography and other Web sites the workers said were inappropriate.

Attendants and passengers raised ``a lot of complaints,'' and leaders of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants broached the issue with management, without making a formal request for filters, union spokesman David Roscow said today in an interview. He didn't give specifics about any objections.

In-flight Internet use poses a new challenge for airlines as they balance their cabins' close quarters with the push to offer more amenities to win business and boost revenue from sources other than fares. AMR Corp.'s American began selling access on some cross-country flights on Aug. 20.

``It's a tricky door to open,'' said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy and Information Center in Washington. ``Where do you draw the line once you start policing the information your customers can access?''

The ``vast majority'' of travelers use good judgment in what they look at, said Tim Smith, a spokesman for Fort Worth, Texas-based American. ``Customers viewing inappropriate material on board a flight is not a new scenario for our crews, who have always managed this issue with great success.''

American offers Internet access for $12.95 on 15 Boeing Co. 767-200 jets that make 25 daily flights between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles or San Francisco, and between New York and Miami.

Trial Period

The program is in a three- to six-month trial period, Smith said. When American reviews usage and feedback, ``we will obviously assess this concern as well, including the number of actual incidents reported and any other related issues.''

JetBlue Airways Corp. provides limited Internet access on one plane. Southwest Airlines Co. and Delta Air Lines Inc. plan to have wireless service by late 2008 and 2009, respectively.

``We've heard a lot of complaints from flight attendants and passengers'' about travelers pulling up objectionable Web pages, said Roscow. While the union discussed the situation with American executives, it didn't make a formal request to block specific sites, he said.

Installing filters raises the question of whether to block ``certain words, images or both,'' and whether an airline can limit what travelers watch on personal DVDs, Rotenberg said in an interview. Customers may have to be told that carriers reserve the right to suspend Internet access if others complain, and for attendants to make case-by-case decisions, he said.

`Moral Policemen'

American's attendants don't want to become ``moral policemen,'' said Frank Bastien, a spokesman at the union's headquarters. Attendants also don't want to be exposed to laptop images of violence or pornography, he said.

``It's a real concern to our members,'' Bastien said. American ``put on filters that will prevent people from making Wi-Fi phone calls, and they don't seem to have any qualms about doing that. Where's the protection for other things out there?''

American and the attendants union, which represents about 19,000 workers, resumed talks today for a new labor contract.

AMR fell 58 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $9.54 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 10, 2008 17:01 EDT