By Tom McClimon
July 18, 2011

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that the agency will launch a pilot trusted traveler program for select passengers at four major U.S. airports in the fall. The initiative will enable travelers enrolled in Custom and Border Protection’s Trusted Traveler programs (Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI) and certain members of Delta and American Airlines’ frequent flier programs to go through an expedited security screening lane and process at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and Miami International Airport.

TSA’s new program is substantially similar to the trusted traveler program that the mayors recommended in a resolution adopted at the 79th Annual Conference of Mayors in Baltimore in June. In the resolution adopted “In Support of Creating A Government Administered Trusted Traveler Program,” the mayors called for TSA to implement a broad, government-administered trusted traveler program that contains a voluntary enrollment process, sufficient background checks to determine the low-risk nature of enrollees, and a checkpoint process that reflects the low-risk nature of the traveler while refocusing aviation security on the highest risk passengers and improving passenger facilitation.

A 2008 survey of air travelers found that 28 percent of travelers avoided at least one trip because of air travel hassles, which translates into a $26.5 billion dollar loss to the US economy, including $4.2 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue. Travelers would take an additional two to three flights per year if the hassles in the security screening system were eliminated, and these additional flights would add nearly $85 billion in consumer spending and 900,000 jobs to the American economy.