TSA INCREASES OPTIONS TO ENROLL IN PRE-CHECK

In keeping with its trend in recent months, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has continued to open new, temporary Pre-Check enrollment centers throughout the country. For an up-to-date, searchable list of these centers, click here.

In addition to the tried and true, airport-located enrollment centers, TSA is branching out the accessibility and use of the Pre-Check program. Beginning with airlines, hotel brands, and credit cards offering the $85.00 Pre-Check enrollment fee as a points redemption option, TSA, along with its enrollment service partner, MorphoTrust, opened enrollment centers at H&R Block tax service centers in several areas of the US last summer. Building on this strategy, enrollment centers were also set up at Department of Motor Vehicle offices throughout Virginia.

TSA’s newest partnership is with concert promoter LiveNation. Soon, concertgoers will be able to apply for Pre-Check status at mega-concerts and music festivals, receiving the same “fast track” lane benefits as they enjoy at airports.

Current major companies who offer Pre-Check enrollment fee redemption using loyalty points include United Airlines, Hilton Honors, Club Carlson, and American Express.

HOW LOW CAN (WAIT TIMES) GO?

To say TSA has made great improvements in wait times since the beginning of the summer travel season would be a vast understatement. After Congress approved a reallocation of its budget, TSA made some marked changes to staffing strategy and screening options to dramatically improve wait times. Denver Airport, for example, had wait times of merely 18 minutes during its 10 busiest days of 2016. This was achieved through a combination of hiring additional staff, approving overtime for existing staff, and accepting the financial and manpower support of several airline partners.

This month’s bit of good news? TSA plans to keep these staff levels unchanged through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season!

TSA is currently testing new screening methods, in the hope of bringing wait times to even further lows. By the end of 2016, TSA plans to test automated screening lanes at Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Miami airports. At Phoenix airport, computed tomography (CT) technology, which is currently used to screen checked luggage, will be tested on carry-on items. If successful, passengers will no longer need to remove their 3-1-1 liquid bag or laptop from their carry-on. Testing for this new technology is possible, in part, due to financial contributions from American and Delta airlines. Even the screening belts themselves are in line for an upgrade. Thanks to $5 million from American Airlines, TSA is testing a new automated screening belt that diverts bags flagged for further screening from the general pool, uses bins that are 25% larger than those currently being used, and returns those bins to the front of the line via a secondary, floor level retrieval system.

Predicting the size of a screening line is just as important as dealing with passengers already queued. BLIP Systems, who developed the real-time wait indicator app that’s in place at New York’s JFK airport, is testing a new “Optimizer Module” at Copehagen (Denmark) airport, which forecasts approximate wait times by correlating information related to upcoming flight schedules, announced holidays and events, and historical data. This forecast will allow TSA and airport staff to anticipate potential delays and be proactive in their staffing levels to prevent any backlogs.

HEADED TO CUBA? TSA HAS YOUR BACK!

In an effort to ensure that Cuban airports are in compliance with US security standards, US officials and Congress have been engaged in talks with the Cuban government to allow access to risk evaluators ahead of the first commercial flights between the two nations in over 50 years.

One great step forward was achieved in August, when the legal framework was put in place to allow Federal Air Marshals to accompany commercial flights to and from the US and Cuba. Federal Air Marshals serve as “an active last line of defense against terrorism and air piracy.”

TSA TRAINS AGENTS IN DETECTING IEDS

Trainees at the TSA Training Academy in Georgia are taught to recognize the presence of explosive materials and pre-made explosive devices in any and all forms. Through demonstrations and in-field exercises, trainees are taught how to recognize explosives concealed in wires, envelopes, and even a roll of toilet paper! Modern day chemicals, many of them legal for purchase and transport with a permit, can be cocktailed into an extremely fatal improvised explosive device (IED) and concealed to resemble a harmless everyday item. The next time a TSA agent scrutinizes what may look like a common object in your bag, understand that looks can sometimes be fatally deceiving.