Op-Ed: Program Finally Puts Time On Our Side

Time is money and precious to the nation's most frequent travelers and their corporations. A few more minutes preparing for a presentation can make or break a business deal, or allow the final sentences of an e-mail to a valued customer to be typed. It can mean the difference between making a flight and having to spend another night away from home, or translate into a few extra moments with loved ones.

When flying through our nation's airports, time is not always on our side.

Some may think the Transportation Security Administration's proposed Registered Traveler program will provide little benefit to travelers and have minor impact on security screening at the nation's airports. Contrary to this belief, the National Business Travel Association firmly supports the program and considers it to offer three major benefits to our country's national security, airline industry and frequent travelers: time savings, added security and increased productivity.

You can't always count on security lines to be short. Often the lines snake between ropes as passengers struggle to find IDs, remove shoes and place items on conveyor belts. The experience can mimic that of waiting for an amusement ride, with endless thoughts of when you're going to get to the end of the line. With Registered Traveler, long lines could become a memory for participants in the program.

The basic principles of the Registered Traveler program are similar to E-ZPass booths widely used on toll roads. When was the last time you saw a back-up in an E-ZPass lane? And, when states across the country began installing E-ZPass technology, did anyone voice opposition, saying that it unfairly singles out drivers willing to pay for the technology to pass through toll booths with ease?

Admittedly, the airways need extensively more security than our nation's toll booths. Searching for a person intending to do harm to the United States at the nation's airports is like searching for a needle in a haystack. If you make the haystack smaller, your ability to find the needle is increased significantly. The same holds true for the Registered Traveler program. After travelers undergo the necessary background checks and provide biometric identifiers that cannot be duplicated, TSA screeners can reasonably assume they are far less likely of a threat and place more focus on other unknown passengers, thereby improving security screening for all.

Even if just 10 percent of an airport's travelers on a given day are enrolled in the program, it significantly decreases the number of passengers the TSA must thoroughly screen, allowing for more thorough examination of the remaining passengers and luggage.

Finally, the issue of productivity is a key benefit of Registered Traveler. A Registered Traveler program that is interoperable between airports will undoubtedly make America's business travelers more productive, allowing them to concentrate on the healthy conduct of commerce and business continuity rather than languish in long security screening lines. Time is everything to American businesses and travelers. Even 30 minutes saved at the airport each business trip can translate into millions of dollars of productivity savings in the business community.

It will also make the TSA more productive and effective in screening for potential threats against our nation and its citizens by lessening the number of people the agency's employees have to search for dangerous items and behaviors.

Participants in the Registered Traveler program are not occasional travelers. They are astute businessmen and women logging countless travel hours while shaping our nation's economy and generating tax revenue. And, for their service as road warriors on behalf of their employers, clients and our national economy, a few extra minutes to chat with clients, seal business deals or pack their suitcases doesn't seem like all that much to ask for, does it?

The Registered Traveler program is here, and, unlike other TSA programs, is ready for operation and is supported by the traveling community. A November 2005 NBTA Web poll indicated that more than 83 percent of respondents support the Registered Traveler program, further proving the program's relevance to the travel market.

Business travelers want it. Scores of airports want it. Elected officials want it. And, NBTA is in support of a Registered Traveler program that offers America's most frequent travelers a little extra time to conduct business rather than wait in security lines. On behalf of the business travel community, NBTA urges the TSA to move forward with a Registered Traveler program that offers the nation's most frequent travelers a few extra minutes away from the airport and provides the nation improved security screening.

Bill Connors, National Business Travel Association Executive Director and COO.