"A pass on airport security is possible"

Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Column
A pass on airport security is possible
By STEVE HUETTEL
The St. Petersburg  (FL) Times


You're a typical road warrior who spends much of your working life in
airports and airplanes, often on the same airline. You own a house, hold a
steady job and there's nothing more than a speeding ticket or two on your
record. 

Is there anything wrong with using a separate, speedier line for security
screening at the airport?

No, says Steven Brill, the founder of Court TV who heads Verified Identity
Pass. The company is the first in United States to test a "registered
traveler" program, charging fliers $80 for a background check and high-tech
ID card to get faster screening at Orlando International Airport.

It's all about using limited resources most efficiently, Brill says.

"If you have $1 and one minute to spend on security for two people," he
says, "why not spend 40 cents and 20 seconds on the person who's gone
through the (registered traveler) program and 60 cents and 40 seconds on the
person who hasn't?"

There are plenty of critics. Tampa International Airport boss Louis Miller
says the program smacks of elitism. "I think you've got to screen everybody
the same way," he says . "If the technology's going to get better, do it for
everybody."

And because Orlando International receives a cut of Verified Identity Pass
revenue, some observers suggest the airport has a financial incentive to
make security lines for everyone else slower so Verified Identity becomes
more appealing.

Since the government racheted up airport security, airlines and business
travel groups clamored for a way to give faster screening to passengers
willing to submit to a criminal background check and digital fingerprint or
an iris scan.

Last year, the Transportation Security Administration launched a free test
at airports in Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul and
Washington, D.C. The program was capped at 10,000 people, usually customers
selected by one airline at each airport.

Members of a House Homeland Security subcommittee last month said the tests
haven't made screening much easier. Registered travelers still must remove
their shoes and coats and get laptops inspected. The cards work only at one
airport.

Brill's company, which began accepting registrations last month and will
start operations this month, initially faces the same problems. The TSA will
decide when and if Verified Identity Pass can expand beyond Orlando
International.

Registered travelers will be exempt from random selection for a second, more
intrusive search. But they will otherwise receive the same treatment as
anyone else.

For their $80, participants will get a somewhat shorter line that should
move faster. His company may invest in new technology to speed up the
process, such as a mat that travelers can walk over to test their shoes for
metal, Brill says.

His target customer flies at least eight times a year. Frequent fliers make
up as much as 40 percent of airport traffic at peak times, Brill says.
Putting them in separate, faster lines will help shorten the regular lines,
he says.

Because the TSA severely limited enrollment at the five airports, registered
traveler lines are underutilized, which "p--- off all the other customers,"
Brill says. "The biggest mistake you can make is thinking you can succeed
... by making people not in the program unhappy."


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