What's your opinion on this article Airlines lobby for system to speed airport security?

Airlines lobby for system to speed airport security Biometrics uses scans of iris and fingerprints


By Carly WeeksOTTAWA — A coalition of Cana­dian airlines and airports is putting pressure on Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon to adopt a biometric travel screening program that would allow passengers to “fast track” through airport security and avoid hassles like taking off their shoes, coats and removing laptops from their cases before boarding planes. The voluntary program, which is currently in place at several major U.S. airports, relies on iris and fin­gerprint scans to identify passengers and quickly move them through air­port security. The biometric screen­ing system is seen as a way to significantly reduce line-ups and other delays that have become a major has­sle for passengers, particularly those who travel frequently, according to the coalition, which includes Air Cana­da, WestJet, as well as the Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton airport authorities. “It’s just another service to passen­gers,” said Scott Armstrong, spokesman for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. “Obviously, peo­ple are always looking for ways to make the whole airport process quick­er.” Although some Canadian airports have expressed interest in the biomet­ric screening, the federal government has to approve such a program before it can be up and running in Canada. That’s because Transport Canada would have to conduct the background checks on interested applicants, and Canadian Air Transport Security Authority employees would likely be responsible for helping passengers with biometric cards at the airport.


When passengers are approved for the program, they receive a card that comes equipped with a microchip con­taining their biometric data that they must bring to the airport and scan on a machine, similar to a bank machine. Passengers with biometric cards would be able to wait in separate lines that have specialized security equipment, enabling them to pass through security checkpoints quickly and easily.


Adopting such a system, also known as a registered traveller program, “would enhance aviation security while improving the passengers’ experience in the airport,” says a letter sent to Can­non’s office last month by the group of Canadian airlines and airports.


The group argues the federal gov­ernment wouldn’t have to spend any money on the screening program, because it would be paid for by the pri­vate sector. Furthermore, any Cana­dians that wanted to use a biometric screening card would have to pay for the service.


There is currently one company, called Clear, which operates the bio­metric screening program for about 45,000 passengers in the U.S. Although the GTAA has already signed an agreement with Clear for a similar program here, nothing can move for­ward until the federal government decides whether or not to approve it.


A spokeswoman for Cannon’s office as well as CATSA said the federal gov­ernment is currently reviewing the program to see if it can be imple­mented here.


— CanW est News Ser vice

What's your opinion on this article Airlines lobby for system to speed airport security?
I think it is an option as the US already has some type of program in place that if frequent travelers are willing to pay some fee and pass a background check, they can clear security at a faster rate than others and do not have to take off their shoes, etc.





My opinion is that the passengers that do go with the program should probably have their background checked every year just to make sure they are clean.

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