Posted on: Sunday, March 21, 2004

Pre-screening for frequent fliers could start in June

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The government wants to begin testing a program this summer that would allow low-risk frequent fliers to avoid extra security inspections at airports.

Passengers could volunteer to pay a fee and submit to government background checks, but if they were not found to be potential threats, they would avoid being randomly selected for the follow-up screening at checkpoints where carry-on bags go through metal detectors.

The goal would be to move law-abiding and non-threatening travelers more quickly to their planes and permit screeners to focus more on people about whom the government has less information, said David Stone, acting chief of the Transportation Security Administration.

"TSA believes in this," Stone told a House Transportation subcommittee last week. "It's a high priority."

The program, which could begin in June, is expected to appeal mostly to frequent travelers who would think that the cost would be offset by the time saved at airports.

Stone said testing would last 90 days.

Among the airports being considered were Boston's Logan International Airport; Washington's Reagan National Airport; Dallas Love Field; McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tenn.; and West Palm Beach Airport in Florida.

Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, said he wasn't sure passengers would embrace the "registered traveler program" because of privacy concerns.

"We are, as an organization, very much in favor of it," Mitchell said. "But I'm not sure there are a lot of business travelers willing to pay to turn over all that information."

James May, president of the Air Transport Association, said he was "surprised but pleased" by Stone's announcement.

"We've been pushing" for such a program, said May, whose organization represents major U.S. airlines.

The General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, has said many unanswered questions about the program remain, including eligibility, the level of background to be checked, cost and technological problems.

May testified that the government should develop the registered traveler program before implementing computerized passenger screening that would use personal information to rank all air travelers based on their threat level.

But Stone said the TSA is forging ahead with the Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, which has been in development for two years.

He said the agency will order airlines to turn over their passenger records in the next couple of months so the TSA can conduct tests.