Several Airlines, TSA Team Up To Cut Long Security Check Wait Time
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — JetBlue and Southwest Airlines have teamed up with the Transportation Security Administration to offer incentives to their best customers to sign up for the TSA's PreCheck program.
"You'll be able to cash in 9,000 of your Rapid Rewards points," said Joe Mirander of Southwest Airlines. "Depending on where you actually use those points towards a voucher for TSA PreCheck."
JetBlue will foot the bill for its TrueBlue Mosaic members to register with TSA PreCheck to expedite security wait times.
That allows travelers to avoid removing their shoes, their 3-1-1 Compliant Bags from their carry-ons, their laptops from their bags, jackets or belts.
Anger and frustration boiled over in the spring at the country's biggest airports. Two-to-three-hour wait times going through security frequently left travelers who missed their planes stranded.
For many, the lines were longer than their flights, prompting the hash-tag "#Ihatethewait" on social media to pressure the TSA and airlines to do something.
In the fall, American Airlines is expected to roll out new screening technology, including automated security screening lanes at LAX and CT scanners.
The so-called Innovation Lanes will involve two conveyor belts: one moves the full bins to x-rays, while the other dispenses empty bins to people waiting, allowing travelers who are faster to move through the line ahead of those who take a little longer to get through security.
The goal is to reduce security check wait times by 30 percent.