WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration said Thursday that it will test a program to pre-screen a small group of select air travelers who volunteer more personal information about themselves so they can be vetted to get faster screening at airport checkpoints.
The new program represents the Obama administration’s first attempt at a more risk-based, intelligence-driven passenger screening program that could respond to travelers’ complaints that the government is not using common sense when it screens all passengers at airports in the same manner. The change comes amid a typically busy summer travel season and on the heels of public outcry over TSA screeners’ giving enhanced patdowns to children and the elderly — those who ostensibly pose no security threat.
The test program was expected to begin sometime this fall. It applies only to a small number of frequent travelers who are U.S. citizens. The TSA said it anticipates that between 5,000 and 8,000 travelers a day will participate in the trial.
The voluntary pilot program covers selected travelers enrolled as Delta Air Lines’ frequent fliers or in three other government-trusted traveler programs — Global Entry, NEXUS and SENTRI — who regularly go through the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County airports; and travelers enrolled in American Airlines’ frequent-flier program, or the three other government programs, who travel regularly through Miami International and Dallas-Fort Worth International airports. There is no cost to participate.
The concern with any of these expedited programs is that someone could pose as someone else, using a false identification or an ID belonging to another person.
