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Nov 30, 2024 | 7:34 pm

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41 million people have TSA PreCheck. Is the standard line better?

In The Washington Post (they changed the headline since I received their newsletter):

Have we reached peak PreCheck?

Quote:

Since the program debuted in 2013, the number of travelers enrolled in PreCheck, which allows participants to skip standard security scrutiny, has swelled. When factoring in people who acquired trusted traveler status through other programs and affiliations, such as active military and Global Entry, the PreCheck rolls exceed 41 million. The Transportation Security Administration said about 30 percent of fliers are PreCheck members, and it wants that number to increase to a 70 percent majority.
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For wait times, TSA maintains a benchmark of no more than 10 minutes for PreCheck and 30 minutes or less for regular service... “In general, because all of the individuals in TSA PreCheck are low-risk and have undergone that thorough background check, we are able to more efficiently process them,” said Anne Walbridge, who oversees the PreCheck program. “So, even as the numbers grow, we are able to get higher volumes of those individuals through the checkpoint.”
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TSA said the major airports — Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, New York’s JFK, Los Angeles International — receive “a significant proportion” of precleared passengers, a group skewed heavily toward business travelers and frequent fliers.
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Michal Rottman, the agency’s assistant administrator for domestic aviation operations, said it receives passenger information in advance, including which passengers are in PreCheck, and works with its national operations team and local airports to handle the ebb and flow of passengers. Rottman said the staff will add lanes and/or personnel during busy periods, for instance.
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