Gateside by TSA PreCheck program safety questions

The Transportation Security Administration has rolled out a new program to allow people without tickets to get beyond security without a boarding pass.

Gateside by TSA PreCheck will allow people to see off loved ones, meet up with a friend who has a layover, or shop and dine at the airport.

“Trying to make the passenger experience a very pleasant one and keep making sure that security is always our No. 1 priority,” said Daniel Velez, a regional spokesperson for TSA. “It’s hard to do, but luckily, technology and the training that our transportation security officers go through allows us to do that on a daily basis and allows us to get better and better the further we get from 9/11.”

Airports have needed to find the balance between safety and comfort since the deadly terror attack of Sept. 11, 2001. TSA was born out of legislation in the months following that day. As technology has gotten better, officials have been able to relax some protocols.

“Our computed tomography technology, which is our 3D X-rays, allows passengers now to keep their laptops in their carry-on bag,” Velez said. “Our transportation security officers are able to take a digital image that they have. They can rotate it 180 degrees. They can pull it apart, so there’s less hands-on searching of bags because we can tell what’s inside it without having to actually go into the bag.”

Still, some air safety experts warn that, though technology has changed, so have the threats. More people coming through security can also add to the strain on workers.

“The thing you need to look at in this situation is, is it going to create more work on that screener to have more individuals coming through that checkpoint?” said Jeff Price, an aviation professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver. “If that’s going to increase their workload unnecessarily, then that might actually degrade the level of security that they can provide.”

Many airports changed their layout after people without tickets stopped being allowed beyond security. Now an influx of non-travelers may be an issue to contend with.

“Some airports, I think, will see a benefit from it,” Price said. “Other airports might actually see some more congestion they weren’t planning on.”

If the program is deemed successful, the TSA plans to roll it out at additional airports in the coming months.

“Success is going to be based on mainly the amount of people that are using it,” Velez said. “It is limited a day at each airport, so we’re not allowing tens of thousands of people to do this. So don’t worry; it’s not going to clog up the lines. There’s only going to be a certain number of people that are allowed to do it per day right now. So we’re testing that over these 13 airports for the next month, and come October, we will looking to be expanding to more airports across the country.”