A test program that allows air travelers who voluntarily offer background information to zip through faster airport security lines without removing shoes, belts and coats will be expanded to 28 new airports, Transportation Security Administration officials said Wednesday.
The PreCheck program has been tested for several months at nine airports and has already been used to screen 336,000 passengers.
"We are pleased to expand this important effort, in collaboration with our airline and airport partners, as we move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more intelligence-driven, risk-based transportation security system," said TSA Administrator John S. Pistole.
To participate in the program, travelers must go to a TSA website, submit background information and receive an identification number. When booking an airline ticket online with the participating airlines, the traveler needs to type the identification number into a box on the screen.
Travelers won't be told if they have been approved for the PreCheck program until they get to the airport. TSA officers at participating airports will scan the traveler's boarding pass. If an embedded code in the pass indicates that the passenger has been approved for the PreCheck program, the traveler will be directed to the faster security line.
The program will be expanded this year to such airports as Salt Lake City International Airport, John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia, Washington Dulles International, San Francisco and O'Hare International, among several other major airports.
------
(c)2012 the Los Angeles Times
Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Comments