Rapid-screening lanes open for trusted travelers at McCarran

The security screening process at McCarran International Airport will get easier for customers of four airlines as the Transportation Security Administration opened its first TSA Pre-Check trusted traveler lanes Tuesday.

TSA Administrator John Pistole was at McCarran on Wednesday to outline the agency’s intelligence-driven, risk-based security procedure that will enable some passengers to go through the security checkpoint without having to remove shoes, jackets, belts, laptop computers from bags and plastic bags holding liquids and gels.

Only Delta Air Lines and American Airlines passengers and people enrolled in the Customs and Border Protection Agency’s trusted traveler programs will be able to take advantage of the system initially. But Pistole said he expects other airlines to become part of the program in the months ahead.

He said United Airlines, which is merging with Continental, and US Airways are expected to join the program in early 2012.

McCarran is the fifth airport to have TSA Pre-Check lanes. A pilot program began in October at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Dallas-Fort Worth International and Miami International airports, where an estimated 140,000 passengers have used the program since its launch.

The new lane at McCarran’s D gate checkpoint opened Tuesday, and about 250 passengers were eligible for the expedited screening on the first day.

The TSA determines if passengers are eligible for expedited screening by scanning their boarding passes. Frequent fliers of the participating airlines have information in the barcode of the boarding pass that will determine whether the passenger goes to the faster lane.

The TSA said it’s still possible that eligible passengers would be required to undergo more thorough screening, because the agency will continue to pull some from line for secondary screening.

Randall Walker, director of the Clark County Aviation Department, said the TSA Pre-Check system will be good for McCarran because a large number of travelers here are frequent fliers who travel to Las Vegas on business to attend conventions and trade shows.

He said more than 21 percent of McCarran’s traffic — nearly 7.4 million passengers — arrive or depart on Delta, American, United or US Airways. While McCarran is the fifth airport to get TSA Pre-Check, it’s the first origination-destination airport — those dominated by passengers who either start or end their trips here instead of transferring to another flight — to have it.

Walker said TSA Pre-Check lanes would be operated at Terminal 3, because passengers on the initial four airlines will be able to access the D gates from the new facility when it opens in June.

Pistole said the system enables the TSA to devote more resources to checking higher-risk and unknown passengers.

“I am encouraged by the positive passenger feedback and early results from this risk-based security initiative and look forward to working with our airline and airport partners as we continue expanding and testing this concept,” Pistole said.

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