Passengers rolling through Myrtle Beach International Airport may find it less of a hassle in the future.
The airport has joined the Registered Traveler Interoperability Consortium, a collection of 34 airports in the U.S. with a mission to streamline the processing of passengers through security, improve safety and develop a system that can be used nationwide from airport to airport.
"If we can be involved in a process that will allow a smoother transition through the screening checkpoint, we would certainly make every effort to do that," said Bob Woods, assistant director at Myrtle Beach International.
Under a "registered traveler" program backed by the consortium and being evaluated by the Transportation Security Administration, travelers would provide information such as name, address, date of birth and biometric data including a fingerprint and iris scan.
Those travelers would use a biometric kiosk, then a separate lane for security at their home airports. They also would not be selected for secondary screening.
The consortium wants to see some kind of system like that at all airports in the U.S.
"Just as credit cards are accepted once issued at most businesses around the country, if you signed up as a registered traveler in Washington, D.C., you ought to be recognized as a registered traveler in ... any other airport around the country," said Carter Morris, senior vice president of the American Association of Airport Executives.
The association is behind the consortium.
In Myrtle Beach, how much of a difference such a program would make is not clear.
The average wait for screening is about five minutes, Woods said.
"Sometimes on weekends, especially Saturdays, we get longer lines, but typically our backup, like other small to medium-sized airports, is not significant," he said.
To Trina Murray, a 42-year-old housewife from Washington, D.C., who was at Myrtle Beach International on Wednesday, the wait is worth it.
Being from the nation's capital and using D.C. airports, she knows all about airport security and screening.
Expedited security lanes and the use of cards to get through quicker might make air travel less secure because there is no guarantee that someone who already has been screened still will be safe, Murray said. For example, she said, what if someone has had a bad day just before a flight?
"I wouldn't like it," she said. "Sometimes people are safe, other times they are not."
Top air-travel complaints in June:
Flight problems, delays, missed connections
Mishandled baggage
Reservations, ticketing and boarding problems
Disability issues
Oversales
Source: Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation
Consortium's founding-member airports:
Denver International
Phoenix Sky Harbor
San Francisco International
Minneapolis-St. Paul International
Ronald Reagan Washington National
Washington Dulles International
Port Columbus (Ohio) International
Dallas-Forth Worth International
