Looking to Speed Security for Frequent Fliers
• By SCOTT MCCARTNEY
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703937104576303153769314700.html?mod=WSJ_hps_editorsPicks_3
In what would be a major shift in procedures, the Transportation Security
Administration is working on a concept that could let "trusted travelers" keep
their shoes on, leave laptops in bags and avoid body scanners altogether—one of
the biggest improvements at the airport since 2001.
If implemented, the trusted-traveler program would make getting to the gate a
little easier.
Drawing data from airline frequent-flier programs, the TSA plans to identify
trusted travelers and indicate their status with a bar code on their boarding
passes, said the agency's administrator, John Pistole. When the boarding pass
and valid identification are presented at the security checkpoint, a trusted
flier will be directed to the expedited screening line.
There would, as with any program, be some exceptions. For example, expedited
screening might not be offered to passengers on a flight that has bookings for
people on the government's "watch list" of those believed to be associated with
terrorism. Also, the program likely will be tailored to specific flights or
routes. Expedited screening would be easily available on flights considered low
risk, such as regional jet trips to a small city or flights with air marshals
on board, Mr. Pistole said.
"We still want to keep some randomness and unpredictability in there so
terrorists can't game the system,'' Mr. Pistole said.
An initial program to give pilots and flight attendants separate screening
without body scanners or pat-downs will start this summer. Tests at different
airports will follow, TSA said. If the concept moves forward, full
implementation of the trusted-traveler program will take much longer, however,
officials say.
To facilitate the new system, officials say computers and scanners will be
rolled out at airport checkpoints later this year to let screeners verify
boarding passes, making sure names and flight information are valid.
"Let's get away from one size fits all,'' said Mr. Pistole, who took over the
TSA last year. "We think we can improve the process and focus more on people we
know nothing about.''
Mr. Pistole's predecessors resisted offering lesser screening for frequent
fliers for fear of letting terrorists with clean backgrounds board airplanes
more easily. But by using airline frequent-flier data, which goes back decades
at many airlines, the former FBI deputy director and counterterrorism expert
says he believes security can be improved without undue risk. Since the program
will be based on travel history, it likely will take time for newly enrolled
members in frequent-flier programs to get to "trusted traveler" status.
View Full Image
That program is welcome news to many travelers who have been clamoring for a
trusted-traveler system for years. TSA previously allowed private companies to
offer "registered traveler'' programs, such as the Clear program, owned by
Verified Identity Pass. But after paying annual fees and submitting personal
information to get registered, travelers got minimal benefits—their own line at
many airports but the same screening as everyone else. Verified Identity Pass
collapsed in bankruptcy in 2009.
Such a program would, interestingly, add to the perks of frequent-flier
programs. Already, top-level frequent fliers get perks such as upgrades and
prime coach seating, earlier boarding, waivers on baggage fees and access to
priority lines at security checkpoints. Frequent-fliers would be able to tell
airlines that they don't want their information released to the TSA.
There have been improvements in another area of security, the no-fly and watch
lists of people barred from flying or subjected to secondary screening at
checkpoints. Previously, antiterrorism efforts have come under criticism for a
lack of coordination among security agencies, especially after a Nigerian man
with reported ties to terrorists in Yemen flew on a Detroit-bound plane with a
bomb in his pants in 2009. His terrorist connections had been reported to the
government but he wasn't added to either the watch list or no-fly list of
individuals considered a threat to the aircraft, identified as trained in
terrorism or active terrorists. In addition, too many false-positive name
matches, including children, U.S. senators and others, provoked outrage among
travelers and some in Congress.
Since the lists were expanded and agencies began sharing more information after
the unsuccessful pants-bombing attempt, the FBI's Terrorism Screening Center,
or TSC, said 350 people suspected of ties to terrorists have been denied
boarding airline flights.
TSA's "Secure Flight" program, which was fully implemented last fall, has
really made a difference, officials said. Verifying the full name, birthday and
gender information in every airline reservation has reduced the number of
people falsely suspected of being among the 12,000 on the no-fly list and the
460,000 people on the "watch list," who likely receive secondary screening.
Before, people with the same or similar name to a terrorist or an alias used by
a terrorist were regularly snagged for pat-downs and searches.
"With name and date of birth, we match 98% of the time," TSC Director Timothy
Healy said.
View Full Image
While better name-matching may have cut down on secondary screenings, full-body
scanners have led to a lot more pat-downs and searches at checkpoints, either
when travelers refuse the revealing X-ray machines or when they inadvertently
set off an alarm. And TSA, which has made the pat-downs far more invasive, said
it still conducts secondary screenings randomly or based on other undisclosed
criteria.
On the whole, TSA said the number of people hit with secondary searches has
remained constant at about 3%.
Only 450 U.S. citizens are on the no-fly list and 6,000 are on the watch list,
Mr. Healy said. Those numbers previously were kept secret, but Mr. Healy said
now that the no-fly list and watch list are operating better, he's trying to be
more open to dispel myths and build confidence.
Mr. Pistole said TSA is also making better use of watch-list information. Each
day he gets a report on reservations by people on the watch list traveling the
following day, he said. Recently one flight was booked with several passengers
on the watch list, and he asked the federal air marshal service to move agents
onto the flight.
Even the heads of both the TSA and the TSC acknowledge that it is possible to
circumvent the no-fly list and watch-list screening process with false
identities or other means.
Even with the risks, with the new programs, "We do want to do something that
acknowledges that virtually everyone who travels is not a terrorist," Mr.
Pistole said.
Write to Scott McCartney at [email protected]
_______________________________________________
Infowarrior mailing list
[email protected]
https://attrition.org/mailman/listinfo/infowarrior
