Washington - The Transportation Security Administration will work to develop a "registered traveler" program to speed up security screening at airports for frequent flyers, undersecretary for security James Loy said Sept. 10.
Loy testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on aviation security in the United States one year after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He confirmed that TSA will miss the Dec. 31 deadline for total screening of checked baggage with explosives detection systems at up to 35 airports, due to "lost time, lost budget and very real engineering challenges." However, Loy said TSA will meet the year-end deadline at more than 90 percent of the nation's 429 commercial service airports. TSA will work with Congress to find the right solution for those airports where the deadline will not be met, he said, adding that there should be an "absolute end game" for each airport needing a deadline extension and these airports should screen bags in other ways in the interim.
Regarding the registered traveler program, Loy said the needs of security can be balanced "with common sense for those who agree to register for this program and submit to a detailed background check."
The government will benefit from such a program by knowing more about these passengers, which improves security, and by passing them more quickly into the secured areas of airports, which will ease congestion at the checkpoints, he said.
However, Loy said TSA's ability to move forward with a registered traveler program at this time is hampered by the restrictions that the congressional appropriations committees placed on similar plans to develop a standard Transportation Worker Identification Card. Since Congress directed that TSA not proceed with any further plan to implement a TWIC, this restricts any plans to use a similar type of card for registered travelers, Loy said. He requested that members of the Commerce Committee work with his office to remove this obstacle.
Loy also discussed the issue of arming pilots in the cockpit. Loy reported that a special taskforce he convened of law enforcement officials has recommended that pilots not be armed with either lethal or less-than-lethal weapons.
However, he said the taskforce advised that if Congress determines pilots should be allowed to be armed, they should receive personal firearms calibrated to their individual use. Each pilot would be issued a special lock box that would be used to transport the weapon to and from the aircraft.
Loy took issue with what he called "inaccurate and inflammatory" reporting on the status of the government's Federal Air Marshal service. "Contrary to these press reports, we do not have a high attrition rate, nor do we have a lack of ammunition, nor do we have unqualified FAMs, nor do we have FAMs that are not assigned to flights for weeks at a time."
Loy said Congress and the traveling public "should understand that the Federal Air Marshal service is providing the largest, highest-quality, best trained and most professional protective force in American aviation history."