Extra Time for Airline Security Checks

US officials plan to revise an early-warning system designed to keep suspected terrorists off flights amid concern that travel is being disrupted because of poor communication between airlines and the Department of Homeland Security.

The DHS is expected to announce a proposal on Wednesday which will give airlines more time to collect passenger information and pass it on to the department, which cross-checks it with a federal watchlist of known and suspected terrorists and criminals.

The present system has faced widespread criticism from airlines, which have been forced to divert aircraft after passengers have been incorrectly identified as being on the so-called "no-fly" lists. Civil-liberties groups on both sides of the Atlantic have also campaigned against the process, which they maintain is an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

Michael Jackson, deputy secretary at the DHS, said there were no plans to change the level of information which carriers operating in and out of the country had to file, despite a potential impasse with European airlines after the European Court of Justice ruled last month that the information-sharing deal was illegal.

Mr Jackson said the DHS planned to automate and streamline the current system to cut down on the number of misidentified passengers. Airlines currently have to send the passenger information to the DHS within 15 minutes of take-off, and the new proposal would see most of the passenger information collected an hour before an aircraft leaves the gate, with data on late-arriving passengers accepted 15 minutes before it departs.

"We've turned back multiple planes in the past," Mr Jackson told the FT. "This is a significant security improvement and a significant customer-service improvement."

Airlines refrained from comment until the details were formally announced, but privately they have been critical of the quality of the watchlists and the practicality of filing information in time to avoid flights being disrupted.

The watchlist system applies only to international flights and is overseen by the Customs and Border Patrol unit of the DHS. Efforts to create a parallel system for vetting fliers in the domestic market being handled by the Transportation Security Administration, known as the Secure Flight programme, have been placed on hold following delays and cost-overruns, and it is not expected to become operational until 2008.

The department's stance on the type of information for international flights could inflame concerns from politicians and civil-liberties groups in Europe. A controversial 2004 agreement between the US and the European Commission required carriers to send up to 34 pieces of passenger information including name, address and credit-card details - to the DHS.

The court of justice ruled in June that the Commission lacked authority to sign the deal, though not on its substance. Officials have been working with the DHS to craft a new plan before the September 30 deadline for its removal set by the court.

The DHS had held talks with officials from the Commission and member states, with a fresh round expected in early August. "I am optimistic we will be able to fashion an appropriate solution," said Mr Jackson.

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