Elite lines are gone
 

I hope all of those who whined are happy.


Thursday, Feb. 21, 2002
U.S. government orders airlines to close VIP lines
WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has told commercial airlines to close the VIP lines that allow their most valued customers, mainly business travelers, to avoid long waits for security checks at airports, officials said on Wednesday.

The elimination of the perk was ordered by the Transportation Security Administration, which took over airport passenger and baggage screening from the airlines at more than 420 airports this week.

Transportation officials said the decision to do away with VIP lines reflected a move to make the overhaul of airport security equitable since it is now a federal function.

The VIP lines cut the wait for passenger and baggage screening to minutes, instead of an hour or more, and allowed business travelers to spend less time at the airport.

The special service was created to remedy long screening lines after the Sept. 11 attacks on America and boost the sagging business travel market, a priority for big carriers.

John Magaw, the new TSA director, said last week security demands would be balanced with passenger convenience, but common sense would prevail and not everyone would be happy.

One travel expert warned the industry and the government had to find a way to cut down on airport waiting time if they wanted to revive the lucrative airline business.

"These long lines in short-haul markets. ... If you start putting an extra hour or an hour-and-a-half then business travelers are going to opt for their car or the train," said Kevin Mitchell of the Business Travel Coalition.

Some airlines have removed the VIP lines at certain airports to comply with the new requirement, but others have not. The order was conveyed verbally to airlines, a TSA official said.

One industry official said the order has prompted confusion. He said there was uncertainty in the industry about the extent of federal authority beyond the actual function of screening passengers and bags.

Business travel experts said the faster lines were valuable to some, though they did raise fairness questions.

As a substitute, they promoted a plan, being studied by the government, that would allow passengers to receive "trusted traveler cards." Such a card would be granted on a voluntary basis and would use the latest identification technologies to rule out any potential threats and move passengers through security quickly.





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Job security for the fractional airplane industry! Keep up the good work Uncle Sam.

Shouldn't you get better service based on what you pay anyhow? I fly Y fare twice a week on different carriers very difficult to make Elite Status. So I'm generating a ton of revenue but I still get cr*ppy service.

pass the tissues please, still crying about this one http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

It's sad to say, but this is exactly the kind of bass-ackward thinking you can expect from the federal govenment and the beaurocrats. Who cares if it kills business, who cares if it makes sense. FAIRNESS is what's most important according to these geniuses. Problem is, it's fairness only on a rudimentary kindergarden level. They can't think their way out of a paper bag with a flashlight.

This decision is right up there with Transportation Secretary Minetta refusing to use common sense in screening passengers, because that would require using your HEAD to determine that you should look more at middle eastern men rather than little old ladies.

Thank God they are gone. Now the feds will have to concentrate on fixing the problem for everyone, not just the greedy (and I am using this term after reading all the post on this board) FFs from having a fast lane.

What do you think happens when you fly on an airlines that you are not a FF on? Those who travel a mega amount do wind up on airlines they are not FFs.

Fairness? How about everyone paying the same amount of tax every year?

Gee, you must have a lot of faith if you think that the government can actually accomplish something just because they have to.

I can't even keep track of the number of important must-do projects that the federal government has failed at, despite their best efforts.