TSA takes over US air passenger checks
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has finished taking over from airlines the responsibility of screening all passengers that are flying inside the United States against the government's terrorist watch lists, as part of a multi-phase information technology program named Secure Flight
Under the program, airlines must gather a passenger's full name, date of birth and gender when fliers make an flight reservation. TSA then uses that information to help determine if the passenger matches an entry on the no-fly or selectee watch lists.
By the end of this year the government expects all international carriers with direct flight to the United States to also begin using Secure Flight.
In a statement released June 7, the Homeland Security Department, TSA's parent agency, billed the agency's take over of watch list screening for U.S. domestic flights as a "major aviation security milestone."
In the absence of Secure Flight, airlines have been responsible for checking passengers against watch lists. DHS says that Secure Flight improves security and helps prevent the misidentification of passengers with names similar to those in the government's name-based terrorist watch lists.
www.fcw.com
