The initial assessments are positive of a new risk-based passenger screening pilot program that is helping select frequent fliers get through airport security checkpoints more quickly and with less hassle and now the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is looking to expand the effort, John Pistole, the agency’s chief, told a Senate committee yesterday.
So far about 40,000 travelers have gone through the screening process for the PreCheck program and the two participating airlines, American Airlines [AMR] and Delta Air Lines [DAL], have “successfully demonstrated required technical capabilities,” Pistole told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
PreCheck is available to select travelers flying on those two airlines and from four airports that are part of the pilot. Pistole said that the “goal is to as quickly and efficiently expand that with other airlines and airports. Clearly there will more airports added in the next several months, more so as we get into 2012.”
After planning for about a year, TSA kicked off its PreCheck program on Oct. 1. The program involves the pre-screening of select frequent fliers of American and Delta that in volunteer to participate in PreCheck, as well as existing members of Customs and Border Protection’s various trusted traveler programs.
Pistole said in the past few weeks he has discussed PreCheck with the CEOs of two major airlines that are interested in joining the program. He said that one of the variables to airline participation is their information technology (IT) systems and the ability to embed related program information on a boarding pass. He also said that several airlines that are in the throes of mergers have to wait until their IT systems are compatible with each other.
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) said Hawaiian Airlines [HA] is being considered for phase two of PreCheck.
Pistole also said that another aspect to adopting PreCheck is being able to configure the expedited security lane for known travelers at an airport security checkpoint.
PreCheck participants are eligible to go through a separate screening lane at the four airports and not necessarily have to unpack a laptop from its carrying case, remove their shoes or remove their liquids from a carry-on bag. However, there is no guarantee participants will receive expedited screening and random security measures are still in effect.
In addition to improving the travel experience for a portion of the traveling public, PreCheck allows TSA to focus more of its resources on passengers it knows less about, allowing for more effective and efficient screening, Pistole said.
Pistole addressed a range of aviation security issues at the hearing, which was part of a series the committee held the past year examining reforms to government operations following 9/11. On the subject of installing automated threat recognition (ATR) algorithms on the backscatter X-ray-based whole body imagers TSA operates at certain airports, Pistole said the agency should know this month if the target recognition capability for those machines will work.
The backscatter systems are made by OSI Systems’ [OSIS] Rapiscan division. L-3 Communications [LLL], the other supplier of the Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) systems used by TSA at checkpoints, successfully met TSA’s requirements for the ATR earlier this year, leading the agency to begin upgrading the company’s installed base of AIT imagers and to buy new ones from the firm.
Pistole said that any future purchases of AIT systems will include the ATR capability.
Collins repeated her concerns about the health affects of the backscatter-based systems because of the radiation they emit, asking the Department of Homeland Security to conduct an independent study of this. TSA has maintained that testing has shown the radiation dosage to be minimal and Pistole said it is equivalent to the radiation an airplane passenger receives through naturally occurring means during three minutes of flight.
Still, Pistole said he is concerned about the perception that the backscatter AIT machines “are not as safe as they could be” and that DHS will undertake an independent study of their safety.
Collins also said that she and Committee Chairman Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I/D-Conn.) plan to introduce a bill this year to address air cargo screening.
“Our successes in risk-based screening of maritime cargo should provide a roadmap for risk-based screening of air cargo and that is what our legislation is intended to do,” she said.
TSA has a voluntary program in place to ensure that 100 percent of all cargo that will be carried aboard passenger planes departing from U.S. airports is screened for explosives. TSA had hoped to be able to ensure by the end of this year that all cargo being carried aboard international passenger flights bound for the U.S. is screened for explosives but the agency said that deadline would not be met.
Regarding risk-based initiatives in general, Pistole said that he is looking to identify additional groups that can be included.