Zip thru Airport Security for $100 year?

[DandyDon]

Just saw this...

Faster checks of fliers to start
By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Air travelers who pass extensive background checks will soon be able to avoid security hassles such as removing suit jackets and shoes at checkpoints, the nation's aviation-security chief said Thursday.
Three years in the works, the Registered Traveler program is finally set to begin June 20, Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley told USA TODAY. It could signify the greatest change in aviation security since 9/11 by shifting millions of passengers into expedited lanes at airports.

Hawley's announcement marks the TSA's firmest commitment to a program that airports and airlines have eagerly been seeking as a way to shorten security lines for "trusted travelers." He also provided new details on how the program could operate.

Hawley said travelers will undergo "a significantly speedier process" at airport checkpoints if they clear both a government check for terror ties and another background check to help verify they pose no security threat. (More on airport security: See additional coverage in Today in the Sky) here

Critics such as the American Civil Liberties Union say lines will grow longer for travelers who aren't in the program, which is expected to cost each flier around $80 to $100 annually. The ACLU also said that terrorists could enroll in the program by using fake identities.

ACLU lawyer Tim Sparapani said, "There's no question that the lines for non-Registered Travelers are going to be longer because we're taking away screening space from the mass public and giving it to a few select people."

Hawley said companies that want to operate a Registered Traveler program at an airport must run thorough background checks on applicants. The TSA won't approve an airport's program "unless it improves security or at least maintains it," Hawley said.

Hawley did not list specific benefits that Registered Travelers would get at checkpoints. He said they "will likely be on the same order of magnitude as those things that have been publicly speculated." The TSA has said benefits could include exempting travelers from removing shoes and jackets and laptops from their cases.

Registered Travelers would still have to clear metal detectors and put carryon bags through X-ray machines. They'd also face the standard additional searches if they were to set off an alarm or were chosen randomly for extra scrutiny.

Enrollees will have computerized fingerprint images embedded in biometric cards that will be used to verify their identity when they arrive at a security checkpoint. The cards will work at every Registered Traveler site in the country.

About 70 airports including virtually every major airport have expressed interest in having a Registered Traveler program.

A test program has run since July at Orlando International Airport, where 13,000 people have paid an annual $80 fee. They spend an average of four seconds in security lines at Orlando, according to Verified Identity Pass, the company that runs the program. Other passengers spent an average of 4 minutes and 16 seconds.

 

[Cacia]

YES! I heard that. Part of the intent also (I heard )is to avoid profiling issues.

Eventually anyone who does not opt for the check will be "profiled" by default sort of...
thanks, Don.

 

[Doc]

I feel so much better with the ACLU analyzing everything. I think I'll just bring "Herself" along. She's got a gold Federal shield.

Where do I send the $80? Is the process even quicker if I get the $100 package? Count me in.

 

[Rinkopr]

I fly a lot, and I signed up for this when it was a test program here in Orlando. Besides fingerprint, they also do a retnal scan which is again scanned at the airport to allow you to use the speed line. For those who only travel for leisure it may not be worth the fee, but for us business travlers it is well worth it, and I am glad it will be available in more locations.
They check everything about you, criminal, civil, credit, employement.... pretty through. I even had to explane my Concealed Cayyr Permit, but they still won't let me fly with it

 

[DandyDon]

I don't think it'll do me much good at all. I generally enter the secured system in Lubbock, which I don't see ever having the hardware to run this. It might help on return - from a larger US airport, or reentering the system after customs in Houston...??

But then, I do get to use the Elite lines in the larger airports which are usually much faster.

 

[dherbman]

I'd pay an extra $100 per trip if I could zip through airports. Does my dive gear get to zip with me?

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I'd pay an extra $100 per trip if I could zip through airports. Does my dive gear get to zip with me?

I love TSA. In Nassau they manged to leave all my zippers half open. Well not the zipper in my pants, that was my fault.

 

[DandyDon]

Here is the link to the TSA statements on this: Registered Traveler Pilot Program

 

[RICHinNC]

Never have understood those of us that have gov security clearances out the ying yang being searched.