The Hindu Business Line : Fast security `passes' likely for frequent fliers to US

A select group of business travellers and others transiting through the US may soon get to scoot through airport security under a new system akin to having a "fast pass" for a toll bridge.

Known as Registered Traveler, the programme is due to begin a three-month trial run in late June, using up to 10,000 volunteers, according to the MIT Technology Review.

The Federal Transportation Security Administration is still working out details about the programme, including which airports will participate. But Registered Traveler is already drawing criticism on fairness and privacy issues.

The programme's aim is to thin the ranks of the three lakh passengers a day - about one-sixth of air travellers, who are now subjected to secondary checks. By excluding certain frequent fliers from random security checks beyond the standard stroll through a metal detector, government officials believe their screeners could better focus on other travellers.

But who might qualify or how many would be allowed to participate in the programme remains unclear.

Passengers seeking to get on the preferred list would have to voluntarily undergo and pass a detailed background examination. They also might have to pay an annual fee, widely predicted to be about $100. In an Association of Corporate Travel Executives survey published in April, 73 per cent of respondents said they would pay up to $100 a year to participate.

The concept especially appeals to those who fly a lot and for whom delays can be costly. Once approved, they would get a card bearing their fingerprints or other so-called biometric identification.

Although officials haven't said how the background checks would be conducted or what factors might cause someone to be disallowed from the programme, there are fears that those excluded could have a tougher time getting through airport security than they do now.

The Registered Traveler concept was envisioned as supplementing the proposed Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System, or CAPPS II. That programme - slated to begin this year, is designed to verify each passenger's identity by running names, birth dates, addresses and home phone numbers through commercial and government databases.

But CAPPS II has been delayed partly because of heavy flak from businesses and privacy groups, who claim it would be error-prone and intrusive.

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Fast security `passes' likely for frequent fliers to US