People who do a lot of flying are about to get more opportunities to avoid long lines at security checkpoints.
The Transportation Security Administration is adding to the number of airports where pre-screened passengers can “fly” through security before actually flying.
Frequent travelers willing to give up some personal info won’t have to take off their shoes, belt or jacket.
The TSA says the Pre-Check program has gone so well since launch at seven airports last October that it’s being expanded to 28 others, including some of the nation’s biggest like LaGuardia, O’Hare and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson.
The number of airlines participating will grow, as well, from just Delta and American Airlines to US Airways, United and Alaska Airlines by the end of the year.
Passengers who fly a lot on any of those airlines can apply online, but have to meet criteria the TSA keeps secret.
Therein lie the objections some privacy groups have, that it can be intrusive and not transparent enough.
“It’s just a bad idea to put the government down the road of probing deeply into the personal
lives of Americans to try and sort them into those who can be trusted and those who can’t,” says the ACLU’s Jay Stanley.
A passenger’s eligibility for expedited screening is embedded in the barcode of their boarding pass, which in essence becomes a free pass to the shorter security line.
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