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    New TSA Security Plan Alarms Airlines

    May 5, 2006
    The officials said they were concerned that the U.S. Transportation Security Administration might limit benefits for airline passengers who join the agency's Registered Traveler program.

    Airport and industry officials expressed alarm Wednesday over the TSA's new security plan for frequent fliers.

    The officials said they were concerned that the U.S. Transportation Security Administration might limit benefits for airline passengers who join the agency's Registered Traveler program, National Journal's Technology Daily reported.

    Officials said during a business forum sponsored by the National Chamber Foundation that they are concerned by comments made by TSA Administrator Edmund "Kip" Hawley that Registered Traveler participants might not get relaxed screening benefits. The Boston Globe reported Hawley's comments Tuesday.

    "We are not going to let the Registered Traveler program, which is a great idea, become a potential tool for terrorists to beat the system period," Hawley said.

    Passengers who join the program will voluntarily give TSA their personal information, undergo a background check and pay a fee in exchange for benefits. Business officials are particularly interested in Registered Traveler due to the expectation that they will be able to bypass or quickly pass through screening lines, Technology Daily said.

    Hawley said: "We are not going to significantly reduce security for people who would meet that background check" in the United States.

    Andrew Howell, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's vice president for homeland security, told Technology Daily that Hawley's comments "add fuel to the fire" over what kind of benefits passengers will get through the program, which has been slow to develop. It is expected to begin this summer. "This is not compatible with our vision of [Registered Traveler]," he said.

    "If TSA doesn't come out with something that's workable and has realized benefits, then I think it would have effectively killed the program before it's started," Vicki Tigwell, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, told Technology Daily.

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