TSA Unveils Pilot Programs...For Pilots

No matter what your feelings are on whether or not flight deck crew members should have to be screened before they get to their aircraft, the TSA is still going to require it. So just get used to it. At least the TSA is now starting to come around with some innovative new approaches to getting pilots through the security checkpoints quickly and with little hassle. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is teaming up with the TSA for a pilot screening program for pilots called CrewPass at Baltimore Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI), Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) and Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) in South Carolina. CrewPass is a dedicated line at the checkpoint for flight deck crewmembers with a kiosk where pilots enter their badge number. The kiosk then displays the pilot's photo (as seen below) which a TSA agent can use to match with the face of the pilot trying to pass.


Another system being used at BWI was developed by Southwest Airlines and uses special lane for pilots only as well but introduces biometrics to the equation. The pilots present a "clear key", which looks like a USB drive with a fingerprint scanner on it. After inserting the device and scanning their fingerprint, the pilot's photo is displayed for matching like in the device mentioned earlier for screener comparison. High tech, yet simple. While I'm sure the debate on whether or not pilots need to be checked will continue forever, at least in the mean time it's getting a little easier for pilots to avoid the pain and agony of the long and invasive checkpoint procedures.


[Evolution of Security]

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