[Infowarrior] - Looking to Speed Security for Frequent Fliers

[Richard Forno]

Looking to Speed Security for Frequent Fliers

	• By SCOTT MCCARTNEY

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703937104576303153769314700.html?mod=WSJ_hps_editorsPicks_3

In what would be a major shift in procedures, the Transportation Security Administration is working on a concept that could let "trusted travelers" keep their shoes on, leave laptops in bags and avoid body scanners altogether—one of the biggest improvements at the airport since 2001.

If implemented, the trusted-traveler program would make getting to the gate a little easier.

Drawing data from airline frequent-flier programs, the TSA plans to identify trusted travelers and indicate their status with a bar code on their boarding passes, said the agency's administrator, John Pistole. When the boarding pass and valid identification are presented at the security checkpoint, a trusted flier will be directed to the expedited screening line.

There would, as with any program, be some exceptions. For example, expedited screening might not be offered to passengers on a flight that has bookings for people on the government's "watch list" of those believed to be associated with terrorism. Also, the program likely will be tailored to specific flights or routes. Expedited screening would be easily available on flights considered low risk, such as regional jet trips to a small city or flights with air marshals on board, Mr. Pistole said.

"We still want to keep some randomness and unpredictability in there so terrorists can't game the system,'' Mr. Pistole said.

An initial program to give pilots and flight attendants separate screening without body scanners or pat-downs will start this summer. Tests at different airports will follow, TSA said. If the concept moves forward, full implementation of the trusted-traveler program will take much longer, however, officials say.

To facilitate the new system, officials say computers and scanners will be rolled out at airport checkpoints later this year to let screeners verify boarding passes, making sure names and flight information are valid.

"Let's get away from one size fits all,'' said Mr. Pistole, who took over the TSA last year. "We think we can improve the process and focus more on people we know nothing about.''

Mr. Pistole's predecessors resisted offering lesser screening for frequent fliers for fear of letting terrorists with clean backgrounds board airplanes more easily. But by using airline frequent-flier data, which goes back decades at many airlines, the former FBI deputy director and counterterrorism expert says he believes security can be improved without undue risk. Since the program will be based on travel history, it likely will take time for newly enrolled members in frequent-flier programs to get to "trusted traveler" status.

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That program is welcome news to many travelers who have been clamoring for a trusted-traveler system for years. TSA previously allowed private companies to offer "registered traveler'' programs, such as the Clear program, owned by Verified Identity Pass. But after paying annual fees and submitting personal information to get registered, travelers got minimal benefits—their own line at many airports but the same screening as everyone else. Verified Identity Pass collapsed in bankruptcy in 2009.

Such a program would, interestingly, add to the perks of frequent-flier programs. Already, top-level frequent fliers get perks such as upgrades and prime coach seating, earlier boarding, waivers on baggage fees and access to priority lines at security checkpoints. Frequent-fliers would be able to tell airlines that they don't want their information released to the TSA.

There have been improvements in another area of security, the no-fly and watch lists of people barred from flying or subjected to secondary screening at checkpoints. Previously, antiterrorism efforts have come under criticism for a lack of coordination among security agencies, especially after a Nigerian man with reported ties to terrorists in Yemen flew on a Detroit-bound plane with a bomb in his pants in 2009. His terrorist connections had been reported to the government but he wasn't added to either the watch list or no-fly list of individuals considered a threat to the aircraft, identified as trained in terrorism or active terrorists. In addition, too many false-positive name matches, including children, U.S. senators and others, provoked outrage among travelers and some in Congress.

Since the lists were expanded and agencies began sharing more information after the unsuccessful pants-bombing attempt, the FBI's Terrorism Screening Center, or TSC, said 350 people suspected of ties to terrorists have been denied boarding airline flights.

TSA's "Secure Flight" program, which was fully implemented last fall, has really made a difference, officials said. Verifying the full name, birthday and gender information in every airline reservation has reduced the number of people falsely suspected of being among the 12,000 on the no-fly list and the 460,000 people on the "watch list," who likely receive secondary screening. Before, people with the same or similar name to a terrorist or an alias used by a terrorist were regularly snagged for pat-downs and searches.

"With name and date of birth, we match 98% of the time," TSC Director Timothy Healy said.

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While better name-matching may have cut down on secondary screenings, full-body scanners have led to a lot more pat-downs and searches at checkpoints, either when travelers refuse the revealing X-ray machines or when they inadvertently set off an alarm. And TSA, which has made the pat-downs far more invasive, said it still conducts secondary screenings randomly or based on other undisclosed criteria.

On the whole, TSA said the number of people hit with secondary searches has remained constant at about 3%.

Only 450 U.S. citizens are on the no-fly list and 6,000 are on the watch list, Mr. Healy said. Those numbers previously were kept secret, but Mr. Healy said now that the no-fly list and watch list are operating better, he's trying to be more open to dispel myths and build confidence.

Mr. Pistole said TSA is also making better use of watch-list information. Each day he gets a report on reservations by people on the watch list traveling the following day, he said. Recently one flight was booked with several passengers on the watch list, and he asked the federal air marshal service to move agents onto the flight.

Even the heads of both the TSA and the TSC acknowledge that it is possible to circumvent the no-fly list and watch-list screening process with false identities or other means.

Even with the risks, with the new programs, "We do want to do something that acknowledges that virtually everyone who travels is not a terrorist," Mr. Pistole said.

Write to Scott McCartney at middleseat at wsj.com