New, easier screening program coming to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport
By: BY DANIEL CHANG
Published: Wed, 02/08 @ 4:20PM
Passenger screening at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will get easier for certain travelers in 2012 after government officials announced Wednesday the expansion of a pilot program currently being tested at seven airports, including Miami International Airport.
The Transportation Security Administration program, called TSA Pre, gives eligible travelers the option to volunteer more personal information about themselves so government agents can vet them before they arrive at airport checkpoints.
The program allows participating passengers to enter security checkpoints through a dedicated lane, where they undergo expedited screening, which could include no longer removing shoes, light jackets and belts, or extracting laptops and liquids from bags.
There is no cost for to participate in TSA Pre, though not everyone is eligible.
Currently, only some frequent fliers from American and Delta airlines, and members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s three Trusted Traveler programs who are also U.S. citizens can participate. Select passengers in frequent flier programs for USAirways, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines will be eligible to participate by the end of 2012, government officials said.
As many as 2,000 passengers pass through the Miami checkpoint a day, TSA said, and it’s expected the same would be true in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood.
Sari Koshetz, a spokeswoman for TSA in Miami, said some eligible frequent fliers will receive invitations from their airlines to participate in the program. Once an invitation is received, a passenger must proactively opt into the program to participate.
TSA Pre is already being tested at airports in Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Since launching the pilot program in October, TSA officials estimate that more than 336,000 passengers have undergone the expedited screenings.
It is unclear how much time passengers have saved by using TSA Pre, or how the program has affected airline operations, such as improved on-time departures. But government officials said the program’s expansion brings a more common-sense approach to airport security by recognizing that most passengers do not pose a threat.
“We are pleased to expand this important effort ... as we move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more intelligence-driven, risk-based transportation security system,’’ TSA Administrator John S. Pistole wrote in a news release.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International is among 28 additional airports, including ones in Orlando and Tampa, that will begin offering the TSA Pre program by the end of 2012. More than 23.3 million passengers traveled through Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport in 2011, according to Broward Aviation Department statistics.
Though the program promises to make the screening process easier for eligible passengers, TSA officials said the agency will continue to use random and unpredictable security measures throughout airports.
@Nyx.CommentBody@