Transportation Security Administration head Kip Hawley before the Senate Commerce Committee today said TSA is on track to launch the Registered Traveler program by mid-June—"depending on the pace of our market-driven private industry partners" —but said the agency would not implement passenger prescreening system Secure Flight until operational criteria outlined last year in a GAO report are met. "We will move forward with Secure Flight program as expeditiously as possible," Hawley said, adding, "My priority is to ensure we do it right, not that we do it quickly."
GAO last year issued a scathing report on TSA's Secure Flight and found that implementation progress was neither right nor quick, noting that the program had failed to meet 10 criteria set by Congress
(BTNonline, March 28, 2005).
"The next point of this process is that TSA has met all 10 of these issues," Hawley said, adding that the agency will audit the program before moving forward. He did not give a timetable.
"It's not clear what Secure Flight capabilities will be delivered, when and at what cost," Government Accountability Office director of homeland security and justice Cathleen Berrick said during the hearing. Although she said questions still linger, Berrick said, "TSA has made some progress in all of these areas."
With Registered Traveler's progress moving largely on the back of private industry, Hawley noted that "Secure Flight is a program that's more important to us," as it impacts the entire traveling public, not just frequent travelers who elect to pay for expedited airport screening. As such, TSA last year moved much of the Registered Traveler program from the hands of the federal government and into those of the market
(BTN, Nov. 14, 2005).
The National Business Travel Association pledged its ongoing support to the Registered Traveler program as well as the intention of Secure Flight, if not its progress to date. Executive director and COO Bill Connors agreed that the 10 operational standards for Secure Flight outlined in the GAO report must be met and a speedy redress process be implemented before the program's launch. Representatives from the American Association of Airport Executives and the Air Transport Association during the hearing said they also support a properly run passenger prescreening system.
However, the American Civil Liberties Union suggested that both programs be scrapped altogether. "After four and one-half years, nearly $200 million wasted tax dollars, several name changes and repeated, unsuccessful reformulations of the underlying proposals, Secure Flight and Registered Traveler are no closer to implementation than when they were first proposed shortly after the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001," ACLU legislative counsel Timothy Sparapani submitted in written testimony.
Air Transport Association president and CEO Jim May said that while his organization was among the first to propose the Registered Traveler idea, the focus should be on prescreening programs, as "the process has improved significantly. Instead of having those two-hour waits for airport security, we have a 10-minute wait on average through the system."
However, corporate travel buyers said they still see value in such a program. According to an Association of Corporate Travel Executives survey of 150 business travel managers released today, 68 percent of respondents said their companies would foot the cost of Registered Traveler enrollment for select travelers, in many cases based on frequency of trips. However, at one-quarter of the companies responding, travel buyers still were determining a reimbursement policy.
"This is in contrast to a previous ACTE survey taken 18 months ago when an overwhelming number of companies indicated that they would not reimburse for a Registered Traveler program," ACTE said in a statement. "At that time, privacy concerns for a voluntary vetting program were not an issue."
While some corporate travel managers noted that rejection from such a program could raise questions about that employee's background, 84 percent said it would not. In addition, 93 percent stated that a traveler's decision not to apply to the Registered Traveler program would have no impact on the employee.
As TSA moves forward with setting standards on the collection of Registered Traveler data, data privacy and security concerns for the voluntary program now are on the radar of corporate travel buyers, 57 percent of respondents said.
Meanwhile, corporate travelers irked by the myriad hassles of travel today found kindred spirits in high places, as several senators discussed gripes of road warriors—from those travelers incorrectly placed on no-fly lists to those who refuse to check oversized luggage.
As the appearance of Sen. Ted Kennedy's name on a government no-fly list gained headlines in recent years, several senators noted names wrongfully placed on such lists have become too common a problem. "My wife, Catherine Stevens, is being questioned if she's Cat Stevens," said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) also discussed an acquaintance who frequently has been pulled aside following a false match with the no-fly list-"and the only place this guy is dangerous is on the golf course," he said.
Quips aside, Hawley today said about 30,000 travelers have gone through the redress process to amend false positives, yet further automation of the process—as he said the agency plans—should limit such problems. "That part of the program, the so-called redress, has improved and needs further improvement," Hawley said.
Of oversized baggage, ATA's May said, "There was a time when size requirements were put on the TSA screening equipment so that if it didn't fit you had to check it before you even went through security." May said he would work with the industry and TSA to explore reinstating such a process, while looking at other solutions.