TSA tests seismic shift in airport visitor's rule

Christy Strawser (0:01)

The day's biggest stories, the people behind the headlines, the conversations you won't hear anywhere else.

I'm Christy Strawser. You're listening to Audacy's On Deadline. We're marking the 25th anniversary of 9-11 this week, and one of the ways our lives changed is airport security. But is it about to return to the ways of old? Here's Vanita Sarkar in Minneapolis.

Vanita Sarkar (0:22)

It's coming back, okay? I want you to take a second here, and remember the days before 9-11.

And some of the ease we had with air travel and things like that, obviously those things had to change. But I was so intrigued by this story. Remember, for decades, when we used to go through the airport security checkpoint, that was a point where now you have to say goodbye to your friends and family, and only if you have a ticket can you get through it. But TSA is launching a new program for some people where you will be able to go past that point even if you don't have a ticket. A little explanation of this is Jessica Mailey with TSA, TSA's spokesperson. Good morning, Jessica. Tell us a little bit more about it.

Jessica Mailey (1:07)

This is a great program. We're rolling it out. It started a week ago, but you're right. It is just in the early pilot phase. We're trying it out at 13 airports across the country.

And basically, it is a benefit for our TSA pre-check members, where just as you said, they can apply online one to three days in advance. If they want to go through the checkpoint, they are not boarding a flight. Maybe they want to meet a friend, maybe they want to see someone off, maybe they just want to shop or eat at the restaurant. We know airports these days have a lot of cool stuff beyond the checkpoint. So yeah, we're trying this out and we're going to see how it goes.

Vanita Sarkar (1:39)

I think this is just great. What made you all, what made TSA decide to change this now, to change this back to the way it used to be and start to give some access to people who don't have airline tickets?

Jessica Mailey (1:51)

Yeah, you know, there has been just growing interest in this concept of flight passes over the last few years.

There are airports that have kind of experimented and done their own thing. But I think we definitely saw that passengers were interested in it and we realized that with our pre-checked population, this is a pre-vetted population, this is a low-risk population, it would be a good group of people to kind of try it out with and see how it goes.

Vanita Sarkar (2:12)

And you're starting, as you said, just sort of a trial basis with some of these airports like Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis. Omaha is one of them. That's the closest one to us.

Las Vegas, Los Angeles. When, and I know little by little, you'll be adding more airports. Are you just going to evaluate how it goes in these airports first?

Jessica Mailey (2:33)

Yeah, absolutely. So starting it off, we've only been doing it, we started it on September 1st. So a little over a week, but we're going to continue to see how it goes. And yeah, I mean, I think we're optimistic that it's successful and we'll be able to continue to add more eventually.

Vanita Sarkar (2:46)

So a weekend, are many people taking advantage of this?

Jessica Mailey (2:50)

We don't have any data yet. I think that will be interesting to see especially, kind of which airports people are most excited to use it at. But definitely, it is in use and it's going well. Every airport is a little bit different both in what the airport is like and then sort of what the customer base or the passenger demand is there. So I think we're going to definitely, and this is what's great about TSA, is that we have local officials in every airport who have great relationships with airport stakeholders and airport directors and airlines, so they kind of know what the situation is on the ground. So those conversations are ongoing, and I could definitely see again if the program is going well elsewhere, there would be interest from other airports and saying, hey, can we bring this here in the future?

Vanita Sarkar (3:28)

And do you ever anticipate it moving beyond TSA pre-check customers?

Jessica Mailey (3:33)

That's another thing that's too soon to tell. Again, we are really cognizant. We would never want something like this to overload operations. We don't want people who are actually waiting in line for flights to have so many people, extra people there that it's kind of increasing wait times or anything like that. So we do limit the number of gate passes we issue in these airports.