DOT, Airlines At Odds Over Security Clearance
Major airlines still are operating express security lanes for their frequent travelers at hub airports despite indications from the U.S. Department of Transportation--now in charge of security checkpoints--that the practice will not be continued. About the existing lanes, DOT deputy secretary Michael Jackson, speaking before travel industry executives Wednesday in Washington, D.C., said, "That's not how we're doing it, unless we create a fast lane option." The Transportation Security Administration has set a goal of getting every traveler through the screening process within 10 minutes.
United Airlines spokesman Joe Hopkins, however, said United continued to keep the express lanes open and wanted to remain doing so. Hopkins said the airline has not heard from TSA on the issue. Continental Airlines, which only last week introduced the frequent traveler lanes at its hub airports, also confirmed that it currently has the lines open. Continental spokeswoman Monisa Cline today said DOT told airlines the lines could remain open, but preferred travelers would need to be funneled to the same screening devices as other travelers.
"We want to keep the priority lanes," Hopkins said. "They provide good value for our customers--though we actively manage them. This is a line-wait management issue and a customer service issue, not a security issue." David Stempler, president of the Air Transport Association, a U.S. airline trade group, today said that closing the lanes could negatively impact business travel and airline profitability.
American and Delta airlines, which both established high-speed lanes in the fall, did not return phone calls for comment.
About the "preferred traveler" ID card idea tossed around in the post-Sept. 11 travel era, Jackson said the idea was compelling, but required further evaluation to determine what real-time savings it would afford if travelers still are required to pass through inspections and checkpoints.
Jackson, at an International Civil Aviation Organization conference yesterday, also said the United States will contribute $1 million toward an audit of international airlines and airports to correct "deficiencies" in international security standards. The audit is part of a potential plan of action proposed by the 187-nation ICAO. The issue is the main focus of the conference, held yesterday and today in Montreal. The United States initially will contribute $1 million, with more to follow in the next two years, Jackson said.