The Transportation Security Administration is hoping to quadruple the enrollment in expedited airport screening in order to reduce randomly choosing some travelers for this privilege. TSA’s chief risk officer, Kenneth Fletcher, told the House’s Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation that the agency just enrolled its 1 millionth member in Pre-check last week.
An estimated 6.5 million travelers qualify for the Pre-check screening, which grants travelers the priveledge to keep shoes and jackets on and with laptops and liquids in carry-on bags at security checkpoints. With better marketing over a period of years, the TSA hopes to enroll another 25 million people in one of the variety of the “trusted traveler” programs. Nearly 2 million people fly every day, and travel surveys suggest as many as 36 million Americans would be willing to join for the $85 fee over five years, Fletcher said.
