Forty percent of the U.S. traveling public now passes through expedited airport security screening lanes, due in large part to the expansion of the PreCheck program, Transportation Security Administration administrator John Pistole said Wednesday during a Senate committee hearing. Pistole predicted that a "majority" of passengers would benefit from expedited screening as TSA further expands PreCheck and other programs.
Winning favor among many frequent travelers, the PreCheck program allows "low-risk passengers," in the words of Pistole, to pass through security checkpoints while leaving on their shoes, light outerwear and belts, and keeping laptops and allowable liquids in carry-on bags.
Noting that the goal of PreCheck is to "get people through in five minutes or less," Pistole said the lanes double hourly throughput compared with standard screening lanes.
Pistole recounted the program's sustained growth since it first launched, noting that the program now is at 118 U.S. airports nationwide, represents 600 of TSA's 2,200 screening lanes and continues to grow in terms of eligible passengers. (Pistole noted that only 300 of those lanes are full-time, with the other half designated as PreCheck during peak travel times.)
Meanwhile, TSA this week welcomed Air Canada as its first international airline partner in PreCheck and indicated that it expects more to join.
Once an invitation-only program for elite-level frequent flyers or members of other trusted-traveler programs, TSA last year enabled passengers to apply directly to participate, provided they pass a background check and pay a fee. Pistole noted in prepared remarks on Wednesday that "more than 180,000 people have submitted applications at the 240-plus application centers nationwide." And, he noted in an exchange with senators, that number is growing.
TSA has expanded access to expedited lanes to military personnel, "and in April of this year extended eligibility to all civilian employees of the Department of Defense," according to Pistole. "TSA is currently working with a number of other Federal departments and agencies to include other lower-risk populations into TSA PreCheck."
Counted in Pistole's 40 percent figure, "Numerous other risk-based changes are in effect nationwide, including expedited screening procedures for children 12 and under and adults 75 and older, airline pilots and flight attendants," he noted.
Meanwhile, Pistole said that TSA uses "real-time and intelligence-based methods, such as Managed Inclusion and TSA PreCheck Risk Assessments to identify additional passengers eligible for expedited physical screening on a trip-by-trip basis."
Pistole previously revealed a target to have 50 percent of the traveling public passing through expedited security-screening lanes by the end of 2014.