TSA expands program to speed travelers through airport screening

A test program that allows air travelers who voluntarily offer background information to zip through faster airport security lines without removing shoes, belts and coats will be expanded to 28 new airports, Transportation Security Administration officials said Wednesday.

The PreCheck program has been tested for several months at nine airports, including Los Angeles International Airport, and has already been used to screen 336,000 passengers.

“We are pleased to expand this important effort, in collaboration with our airline and airport partners, as we move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more intelligence-driven, risk-based transportation security system,” said TSA Administrator John S. Pistole.

To participate in the program, travelers must go to a TSA website, submit background information and recieve an identification number. When booking an airline ticket online with the participating airlines, the traveler needs to type the identification number into a box on the screen.

Travelers won’t be told if they have been approved for the PreCheck program until they get to the airport. TSA officers at participating airports will scan the traveler’s boarding pass. If an embedded code in the pass indicates that the passenger has been approved for the PreCheck program, the traveler will be directed to the faster security line.

The program will be expanded this year to such airports as John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia, Washington Dulles International, San Francisco and O’Hare International, among several other major airports.

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