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Speeding Up Travel
The TSA is expanding a pilot program to allow for expedited security checkpoints for registered applicants, but questions remain about the effectiveness of the program and redress options for rejected applicants.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will soon begin phasing in its Registered Traveler program at 10 to 20 airports to further test whether the pre-screening program successfully speeds up checkpoint processing for frequent flyers. But while interest in the program is extremely high, some travel managers wonder whether companies will insist employees participate in the "voluntary" program and what problems could occur if a business traveler is rejected for admission to the program. Corporate policies that would address such issues, they say, depend upon final federal regulations -- which have not yet been issued. "Right now, the government has not figured out a redress option [for rejected applicants]," says Susan Gurley, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, a 2,500-member Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit organization for travel executives and travel vendors. "Have human resource departments thought about this? Have they figured out what to do? Have they advocated for the government to get a redress option in place?" she asks. What happens, she asks, if an employee is rejected for admission into the program because of a perceived security risk? Will such a situation lead to a company offering legal assistance to redress such problems or will it lead to firing the individual? Some of her organization's members also wonder if there will be pressure put on employees to enter the program. Does an individual have the right not to participate, Gurley asks, or will a company look askance at employees who refuse to apply? "We believe it's an important dialogue that corporations should have with their employees," she says. "We believe that it's critical that they have a discussion. ... It's just about being transparent and thinking about things before a problem arises." Dan Yeager, senior vice president and general counsel of the HR Policy Association, a Washington-based group of senior HR leaders, says his agency has not heard much on the issue from its members yet. "Typically, it's got to get up on their radar screen for us to jump in," he says. Baruch Weiss, who was acting deputy general counsel and associate general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security and is now with the law firm of Arent Fox in Washington, says the TSA "recognizes from past experience that there can be mistakes made [in security screenings]." Problems occur mostly because a traveler's name or date of birth is too similar to someone listed as a potential security threat on the no-fly list or on a list requiring special screenings, he says. The TSA will be ready to conduct background screenings by June 20 for the new pilot, says Amy Kudwa, a TSA spokesperson. When the program actually begins operating at the as-yet-unidentified airports will be up to the individual airports and vendors, she says, but is planned for the second half of 2006. A national roll-out is scheduled to take place in 2007. Key to success of the program will be the "interoperability" of the systems, she says. Registered Traveler participants should be able to show their identity card for expedited screening at all airports participating in the program. "How much it will facilitate travel is a little bit of an open question for a couple of reasons," says Weiss. "It will vary from airport to airport." Some airports, he says, have physical limitations that will not allow for "special screening lanes" for program participants. There is also the difficulty of making the system interoperable. "That's why they are doing a pilot," he says. An initial pilot at five airports -- Minneapolis-St. Paul, Los Angeles, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Boston and Washington National -- was very successful, says Caleb Tiller, spokesman for the National Business Travel Association, a 2,700-member organization of corporate travel managers and travel service providers based in Alexandria, Va. The new program is different in that, while the TSA will continue to do the background screenings, the checkpoints will be run by private companies, not the TSA. This second phase has already begun in the Orlando airport, where New York-based Verified Identity Pass has operated since last July. Verified Identity Pass -- which also has been selected to operate the program by the San Jose, Indianapolis and Cincinnati airports -- charges $79.95 a year for admission and requires applicants to submit biometric data -- fingerprints and iris scans -- at airport enrollment centers. Once approved by the TSA, program members can use specially designated "ClearLanes" for expedited passage through security checkpoints. TSA redress processes for rejected travelers are still being worked out, Kudwa says. "We have not yet gotten into the details yet." However, Tiller says, the TSA has agreed to participate with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. State Department in creating a universal process so that any redress efforts will be applied throughout all systems. "We have heard some frustration around [redress]," says Tiller. The TSA has made it easier to find information on how to begin such a process, he says, but the process is slow and "somewhat mysterious." Some companies have begun creating policies addressing the Registered Traveler program, says Tiller, but until details of the program are finalized, the policies remain in draft form. "There is just a huge level of interest in this [within the organization's corporate membership]," Tiller says. "It's a lost-productivity issue. ... They really want to see business travelers get through security lines more rapidly." Final regulations are still a long way off, however, Weiss says. The drafting of the regulation -- and allowing for public comment -- could take a year or so.
May 10, 2006 Copyright 2006© LRP Publications |
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