Frequent-flier security bypass is still not off the ground

WASHINGTON — Allowing frequent fliers to bypass much of the airport-security hassle in exchange for giving up personal information has yet to happen, four years after the idea was proposed.

The concept, first called "trusted traveler," emerged weeks after the 9/11 attacks. But the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now is suggesting that benefits would range from slim to none, except perhaps for the likelihood that the line waiting to reach the checkpoint would be shorter.

TSA administrator Kip Hawley said the concept, now called "registered traveler," was not a priority because it would not cut risk of a terrorist attack. If private entrepreneurs assembled a package of tools that helped identify security threats, Hawley said, the payoff for qualified travelers likely would mean only that they would not have to remove their shoes or suit coats, or take laptops out of their briefcases for inspection.

"If we get enough things in there that raise the bar, then we can say, 'Yes, you can keep your coat on or your shoes,' or whatever," he said.

In fact, a TSA laboratory in Atlantic City, N.J., is testing a device developed by General Electric, with technology similar to a hospital magnetic-resonance-imaging machine, that looks for shoe bombs.

GE also owns a minority share in the only company now operating a "registered traveler" checkpoint in Orlando, Fla., called Verified Identity Pass. GE is working on a second device that might let screeners determine with confidence whether a briefcase stuffed with a laptop computer had a bomb in it.

After 9/11, many aviation experts said checking a traveler's criminal background could determine how much screening was necessary. But Hawley and others said terrorist attacks on London buses and subways last summer showed that attackers need not be foreigners or have criminal backgrounds.

Proponents of a registered-traveler program are disappointed with the lack of progress.

"You cannot imagine the frustration up here," said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee. "We're screening the same people over and over again."

Mica argued that people who have security clearances are in the armed forces or law enforcement, or work as commercial airline pilots, and a variety of others need not be screened.

The pilot program in Orlando has proved popular. Verified Identity, which charges $80 a year, said it had signed up 23,000 people. Members go to a dedicated lane where the wait generally is two to four minutes, said Steven Brill, founder of the company.

Airports in San Jose, Calif.; Indianapolis; and Cincinnati will follow soon, he said, and he added that his company soon would announce a partnership with a major airline.

Mica, though, said the Orlando operation "just puts people at the front of the line, and irritates the other travelers."

In fact, some airlines allow passengers in the top levels of their frequent-flier programs to move to the front of the line, reducing the commercial value of a trusted-traveler system.

Not everyone likes the idea of preferential treatment for some passengers.

George Doughty, executive director of the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority in Allentown, Pa., said he would not allow such a system because it would mean longer waits for other passengers at his airport.

"Right now, this is driven by the commercial side," he added. "If the commercial interests weren't there, I don't think you'd see too many people pushing this."