"Airport express lane could ease checkpoint congestion"

Wednesday, October 18, 2005

Airport express lane could ease checkpoint congestion
By Elisa Crouch
The St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch


Whatever the cost, Claudius Docekal says he'd pay it, plus endure
fingerprinting, an iris scan and a background check - anything to avoid the
long security lines at the airport.

"What upsets me is having to remove your belt and shoes," said Docekal, a
yacht salesman from Creve Coeur. "It's like getting undressed."

Docekal flies at least three times a month and is one of tens of thousands
of fliers who could qualify for a "registered traveler" program being
explored by officials at Lambert Field and 55 other U.S. airports. The goal:
to reduce checkpoint congestion by allowing certain fliers to breeze through
security.

Since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, frequent fliers have complained loudly
about removing shoes and belts and undergoing random pat-down searches. The
measures have lengthened security lines, added to travel times and led to
missed flights. The hassle has pushed some business travelers to corporate
jets.

"The biggest concern we found among passengers is they don't know how long
that security line is going to be when they get to the airport," said David
Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. "It could be from five
minutes to an hour and five minutes."

Under the program, travelers could receive a federal low-level security
clearance after a background check, eye scan, fingerprinting and an annual
fee that could be about $80.

At the terminal, once their identification is verified, they would go either
to a special security lane or to the front of regular screening lines. Such
travelers would be exempt from pat-down searches and secondary screenings
unless they set off the metal detector. Either way, they would avoid long
lines.

Trial program drew 10,000

The test program, which the Transportation Security Administration began
last year, attracted 10,000 travelers at airports in Minneapolis-St. Paul,
Boston, Houston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and ended Sept. 30. The
TSA is analyzing the test program's success.

Tim Anderson, deputy executive director for operations at Minneapolis-St.
Paul International Airport, said air travelers should expect to see
registered traveler programs appear in airports early next year. His airport
and Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport are taking steps toward hiring private
companies to run their programs.

Some airport officials have spoken with the TSA about allowing registered
travelers to pass through security with their shoes still on and laptop
computers still in their cases, Anderson said.

Jim Brown, who works as a lobbyist for Lambert and other airports, said
enrolling at Reagan National Airport in Washington saved him from missing
three early-morning flights to St. Louis over the summer.

Rather than stand in line for 20 to 30 minutes, Brown was escorted to the
front.

"All the people are looking at me like, 'Who's that guy?'" he said.

The theory behind the program is that it would reduce wait times for
everyone because screeners would be able to focus more on other travelers.

But for it to work, airports must adopt uniform standards. That way, a
traveler registered at Lambert will be treated as a registered traveler in
Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and any other airport that has the program.

The framework for the program should be complete by the end of the year,
said Carter Morris, senior vice president at the American Association of
Airport Executives, which pulled together the consortium of interested
airports. With the TSA's blessing, airports then would hire private
companies to help run the program.

Lambert, which joined the consortium over the summer, is waiting until
airports develop a standard system and a standard registered traveler card
before shopping for technology, said Gerard Slay, deputy airport director.

Proponents of a nationwide registered travelers program say it would allow
screeners more time to focus on fliers the government knows little about.

A concern, though, is that private companies administering the program could
track fliers' travel patterns and use the information for other purposes,
said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition.

As long as the private companies adhere to strict privacy standards, his
group supports expanding the program, Mitchell said.

And that leads to Docekal's only apprehension.

"I'm somewhat concerned with how this information is used," he said. Even
so, he added, when the program comes to St. Louis, he's signing up.

Airports are working with the federal government to expand the registered
traveler program to any airport that wants it. Here's what the process would
be, based on pilot tests the Transportation Security Administration
conducted at five U.S. airports:

   1. Applicants provide personal information such as date of birth, home
address, phone number and - at some airports - Social Security number.
Applicants must have their fingerprints and irises digitally scanned.

   2. The airport provides the information to the Transportation Security
Administration. Federal law enforcement uses the information to conduct a
background check.

   3. Those who pass get a registered traveler card with their personal
information embedded in a computer chip. The traveler pays a fee to cover
the airport's cost.

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