'Trusted traveler' gets support

By CQ Staff

The U.S. Travel Association, an advocacy group for the travel industry, is calling for the federal government to adopt an alternative approach to the current aviation security regime — one that would include better technology and the use of “trusted traveler” pre-screening programs.

“Our current system cannot be the best that the United States can create,” association President Roger Dow said, adding later, “The traveling public certainly deserves a smarter, more efficient and more secure system.”

To that end, the association has for months been sponsoring a panel with representatives from the legislative, security and travel fields — including former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, former House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Jim Turner, D-Texas (1997-2005), former American Airlines president Bob Crandall, former DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Screening Kathleen Kraninger and former Transportation Security Administration Deputy Secretary Robert Jamison — to devise an alternative proposal, which it plans to put out at the end of January.

But Dow said the panel will also need data showing that a problem exists when it makes its recommendations for Congress.

Such data was released in the form of a survey Tuesday. The association had the consulting firm Consensus Research Group survey a sample of 1,000 business and leisure air travelers between Nov. 25 and Dec. 10 on the state of air travel.

The results were unsurprising — 64 percent of respondents said they would fly more if security were less intrusive and time-consuming but just as effective, and 74 percent supported recruiting more and better-trained security officers at airports.

Bob Perkins, managing partner at Consensus Research, said the survey showed that respondents were unhappy with security procedures including taking off belts and shoes, as well as the time it takes to get onto planes. Those frustrations can have a real effect on travel, he said.

“Air security is becoming an infrastructure issue,” he said. “No one would expect you to drive from Baltimore to New York on gravel roads, yet we fail to take into account the role air security has in inhibiting travel.”

The survey’s respondents also support measures such as special security lanes for frequent travelers, families and those who need boarding assistance, Perkins said.

Dow said the association’s panel is still pulling together its recommendations, but they are likely center on three areas that have already received a good deal of focus from TSA and related agencies: training in personal observation for security officers, computer analysis and trusted traveler programs.

To some extent, the agency continues to explore all of those options, with mixed results, but Dow said the panel would want them re-examined in “a better, holistic way.” The trusted-traveler option, especially, would be a step toward moving some aspects of security away from any possible airport bottleneck, he said.

“Just as you check into a hotel, if you’re in their frequent traveler program they have a lot more information on you,” he said.

Perkins said such a program would help narrow down the group of passengers for whom in-depth security checks are required.

“If we can get to a smaller pool of passengers whose travel habits and background are questionable, that gives us a much better chance,” he said.

-- Rob Margetta, CQ Staff