"Editorial: Prescreen passengers to ease airport stress"

Friday, September 9, 2005

Editorial
Prescreen passengers to ease airport stress
The Indianapolis (IN) Star


Our position: Congress should allow the federal government to give
prescreened passengers clearance at airports.

As the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy approaches, the nation's
airline security system continues to be a pain for travelers. Pertinent
questions also have been raised about how secure the system truly is.

Passengers at busy airports such as Atlanta sometimes wait up to two hours
because of security checkpoints. Shoes must be removed at some airports, but
not others. Knitting needles have been confiscated from elderly ladies
(although the Transportation Security Administration Web site lists knitting
needles as acceptable to carry aboard planes).

TSA, meanwhile, operates a no-fly list that includes the names of everyone
from 1-year-old Ingred Sanden, who was prevented from boarding a plane in
Phoenix, to Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy.

In an era of microchips, holograms and the ability to scan the retina of an
eye to authenticate identity, surely there is a better way to screen
passengers.

The TSA has been attempting to test a secure flight program that would use
commercial databases to compile lists of registered travelers whose
backgrounds suggest they could be safely whisked through security
checkpoints with little scrutiny. That would allow screeners to focus on
those who truly might be suspect.

But because of privacy concerns, sensitivity about passenger profiling and
the way both the agency and airlines have handled commercial databases in
the past, Congress wants to ban even limited tests. Everyone will remain
suspect, including grandma.

Concern about government agencies compiling information from commercial
databases and how they use it is warranted. But that shouldn't bar
passengers from voluntarily agreeing to supply data that would enable them
to become prescreened registered travelers.

Congress should scrap the ban and establish restrictions for the use of
sensitive information. It's a key step to taking some of the hassle out of
flying without compromising security.


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