Post by n2nsites on Jul 2, 2004 22:33:27 GMT -5
Registered traveler program takes off
Frequent flyers will get designated security checkpoint
Monday, June 28, 2004 Posted: 3:33 PM EDT (1933 GMT)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- For Brad Jolson, the allure is not having to repack his carry-on bag because of a random search. For Ken Buchanan, it's the thought of gaining extra time at the gate to make phone calls or check e-mail. For Amy Bouska, it's about not getting slowed by travelers unfamiliar with the security checkpoint routine.
They were among hundreds of frequent business flyers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to sign up Monday for a first-of-its-kind program that promises fewer security headaches and shorter wait times for people who pass background checks.
"I'd do anything to save time and hassle going through security -- anything legal that is," said Bouska, a 56-year-old actuarial consultant in the Twin Cities.
So, ironically, Bouska waited in line for 45 minutes to give the Transportation Security Administration biographical data and stand before a terminal that scanned her irises and fingerprints.
If her information doesn't raise flags during a government background check, she'll be certified to pass through a dedicated security line when departing from the Minneapolis airport.
By 9 a.m., 200 people had applied; officials hope to recruit 2,000 people here in all. Four other airports -- Boston, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington -- will help test the registered travelers program between now and November.
The designated checkpoint won't open in Minneapolis for a couple of weeks, and only travelers who consider it their home airport will be able to use it. In turn, Minneapolis passengers won't get special access at the other airports.
For the 90-day pilot period, the government is limiting participation to business flyers who are on the road at least once a week.
Buchanan, 46, of Eagan, easily fits the profile. He figures he logs more than 100,000 air miles a year on business trips for his consulting and software company. He figures half the time he flies he gets picked for a random search; other times he's forced to wait in security lines.
"Getting (to the plane) and getting comfortable are a big part of the whole process," he said. "If I have to get into line after line after line, it just raises problems."
The program won't allow him to bypass metal detectors or keep his bag off the X-ray belt, but he won't be chosen for more intensive secondary screening as long as he doesn't alarm the detection equipment.
For the airlines, like Minnesota-based Northwest, the program is attractive because it could make travel easier for the business flyers, who are critical to their bottom line. Northwest senior vice president Gary Fishman argues that a uniform approach to security doesn't make sense.
"What the government is trying to do is find a needle in a haystack -- that one bad person who is a threat to aviation out of hundreds of thousands of people who travel everyday," Fishman said. "If you shrink the haystack, it's going to be easier to find the needle."
At the Minneapolis airport, security waits average 10 minutes, according to TSA spokeswoman Amy Von Walter. But it can be longer during peak travel times. Program participants can expect waits of 10 minutes or less.
The program is not without skeptics, who have questioned it on cost, privacy and fairness grounds.
For now, it is free for flyers but costing the government $3.78 million to implement. If it expands, users could face fees.
Some travel experts wonder if a few saved minutes in the security line will be enough incentive for people to turn over so much private data -- including e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, current and previous addresses and the "biometric" identifiers -- to the government and its contractors.
Privacy concerns didn't trump the promise of more airport efficiency among those waiting to apply Monday.
"I'm an open book anyway, let them look," said Jan Norlander, 52, of Edina.
As he waited for his turn, Mark Falstad of Minneapolis admitted the program's current exclusivity doesn't make the best impression.
"It's easy to come off as a snob," Falstad said.
But Falstad, a freelance cameraman, said frequent flyers like him spend so much time in airports they deserve a leg up on the occasional travelers who don't know the security drill as well.
"You do this day in and day out and you end up dealing with a lot of people who don't know the score and burn up all kinds of time."
Frequent flyers will get designated security checkpoint
Monday, June 28, 2004 Posted: 3:33 PM EDT (1933 GMT)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- For Brad Jolson, the allure is not having to repack his carry-on bag because of a random search. For Ken Buchanan, it's the thought of gaining extra time at the gate to make phone calls or check e-mail. For Amy Bouska, it's about not getting slowed by travelers unfamiliar with the security checkpoint routine.
They were among hundreds of frequent business flyers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to sign up Monday for a first-of-its-kind program that promises fewer security headaches and shorter wait times for people who pass background checks.
"I'd do anything to save time and hassle going through security -- anything legal that is," said Bouska, a 56-year-old actuarial consultant in the Twin Cities.
So, ironically, Bouska waited in line for 45 minutes to give the Transportation Security Administration biographical data and stand before a terminal that scanned her irises and fingerprints.
If her information doesn't raise flags during a government background check, she'll be certified to pass through a dedicated security line when departing from the Minneapolis airport.
By 9 a.m., 200 people had applied; officials hope to recruit 2,000 people here in all. Four other airports -- Boston, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington -- will help test the registered travelers program between now and November.
The designated checkpoint won't open in Minneapolis for a couple of weeks, and only travelers who consider it their home airport will be able to use it. In turn, Minneapolis passengers won't get special access at the other airports.
For the 90-day pilot period, the government is limiting participation to business flyers who are on the road at least once a week.
Buchanan, 46, of Eagan, easily fits the profile. He figures he logs more than 100,000 air miles a year on business trips for his consulting and software company. He figures half the time he flies he gets picked for a random search; other times he's forced to wait in security lines.
"Getting (to the plane) and getting comfortable are a big part of the whole process," he said. "If I have to get into line after line after line, it just raises problems."
The program won't allow him to bypass metal detectors or keep his bag off the X-ray belt, but he won't be chosen for more intensive secondary screening as long as he doesn't alarm the detection equipment.
For the airlines, like Minnesota-based Northwest, the program is attractive because it could make travel easier for the business flyers, who are critical to their bottom line. Northwest senior vice president Gary Fishman argues that a uniform approach to security doesn't make sense.
"What the government is trying to do is find a needle in a haystack -- that one bad person who is a threat to aviation out of hundreds of thousands of people who travel everyday," Fishman said. "If you shrink the haystack, it's going to be easier to find the needle."
At the Minneapolis airport, security waits average 10 minutes, according to TSA spokeswoman Amy Von Walter. But it can be longer during peak travel times. Program participants can expect waits of 10 minutes or less.
The program is not without skeptics, who have questioned it on cost, privacy and fairness grounds.
For now, it is free for flyers but costing the government $3.78 million to implement. If it expands, users could face fees.
Some travel experts wonder if a few saved minutes in the security line will be enough incentive for people to turn over so much private data -- including e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, current and previous addresses and the "biometric" identifiers -- to the government and its contractors.
Privacy concerns didn't trump the promise of more airport efficiency among those waiting to apply Monday.
"I'm an open book anyway, let them look," said Jan Norlander, 52, of Edina.
As he waited for his turn, Mark Falstad of Minneapolis admitted the program's current exclusivity doesn't make the best impression.
"It's easy to come off as a snob," Falstad said.
But Falstad, a freelance cameraman, said frequent flyers like him spend so much time in airports they deserve a leg up on the occasional travelers who don't know the security drill as well.
"You do this day in and day out and you end up dealing with a lot of people who don't know the score and burn up all kinds of time."
And this is how it begins......the deterioration of liberty by choice.
