The U.S. Transportation Security Administration is testing
new queue designs to further speed members of the PreCheck trusted traveler
program through the airport screening process, according to TSA associate
administrator Doug Hofsass.
"What we're trying to do here over the next couple of
months is to find ways that as customers hit the checkpoint to qualify-scan
them as soon as we can in the process and then move them over to the dedicated
queue," Hofsass said Wednesday during an American Society of Travel Agents
webcast.
When the program debuted last year, PreCheck participants
had to wait in a general queue for a document checker to scan their boarding
document and verify PreCheck eligibility. Only then could they proceed through
security screening without removing laptops and liquids from their bags or
placing their light jackets or belts in bins.
"What we're evaluating right now from a manpower, queue
design and efficiency perspective is how we can identify PreCheck customers
earlier in the process and dedicate them to either a special queue or
facilitate them from the larger, centralized line over to where the actual
PreCheck checkpoint line is," Hofsass said.
He noted that at some airport locations, TSA or airline reps
already scan passengers "before they even join the line. If they're
identified to be PreCheck-eligible, we're taking them off the top of the line,
sending them down a dedicated queue with stanchions to go into the TSA PreCheck
line." Additionally, TSA at some airports has placed boarding pass
scanners at the front of elite frequent flyer lines designated by some
carriers.
At other locations, "you'll go through the full line
and then present your boarding pass," said Hofsass. "Then we'd move
you to the dedicated PreCheck screening."
Despite these potential enhancements, TSA will continue to
include a level of unpredictability in the screening process, meaning that
PreCheck participants are not guaranteed expedited treatment every time they
travel on eligible airlines or at participating airports.
TSA also remains persistent in keeping eligibility a mystery
at the time of check-in. "We don't let anyone know until they get to the
scanner, wherever that scanner may be, that they're PreCheck-eligible that
day," said Hofsass.
The program this year has grown in the number of
participating carriers and airports and, according to Hofsass, in popularity
among the two groups of eligible customers: select airline frequent flyers and
members of the Global Entry program, operated by sister agency U.S. Customs and
Border Protection. Hofsass said TSA is on pace to later this month process its
two millionth PreCheck-eligible traveler.
Just this week, TSA launched PreCheck lanes at airports in
Tampa and Charlotte, bringing the number of U.S. locations to 20, with plans to
be at the 35 largest U.S. airports by year-end in conjunction with airline
partners Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines
and US Airways.