After a measured launch and rollout last year of PreCheck,
the Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday announced plans to
broadly expand the airport trusted-traveler program this year to more than two
dozen large U.S. airports.
Through PreCheck, TSA absolves some vetted frequent flyers
and members of other Department of Homeland Security trusted-traveler programs
from removing shoes, laptops, jackets and belts during airport security
screening. Though TSA still characterizes the program as a "pilot,"
the expansion represents another step toward permanence.
Already active at airports in Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Las
Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Minneapolis, PreCheck this year is slated to
launch in Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Houston,
New York, New Orleans, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco
and Washington, D.C., among other locations.
After launching last year with American Airlines and Delta
Air Lines, the program is growing to include US Airways, United Airlines and
Alaska Airlines.
TSA claimed it has screened more than 336,000 passengers through
PreCheck, which provides benefits to travelers while allowing TSA "to
focus its efforts on passengers the agency knows less about while providing
expedited screening for travelers who volunteer information about themselves
prior to flying," according to TSA's announcement.
Still, participants in the program are not guaranteed its benefits each time they are screened, and program members must wait in line like
other travelers for document and ID checking.
According to TSA administrator John Pistole, the program
represents a shift "away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more
intelligence-driven, risk-based transportation security system.”
Pistole in an interview with BTN last month said TSA is "interested in expanding it as
broadly as possible, moving from the pilot concept to making it a formal part
of TSA."