Faster airport security screening comes to O'Hare - Healthcare News ...

PreCheck security screening arrives at O'Hare Tuesday

(Crain's) ? Expedited security checks for pre-screened frequent fliers are coming next week to O'Hare International Airport, sources say.

March 20 is the unofficial target date for the Transportation Security Administration's PreCheck program to start at O'Hare's Terminal 3, according to sources in and out of government. It will begin with passengers of American Airlines but expand later this year to United Airlines and other carriers.

Passengers who pay a one-time fee of $100 for a background check will in most cases be whisked through security without removing belts or shoes or taking laptops out of cases. Participants receive a special barcode on their boarding passes when they arrive at the airport, and at the first checkpoint they are directed to a TSA PreCheck line.

The program was tested at nine airports last year and is expanding to 28 big airports this year, including O'Hare (but not Midway Airport).

American Airlines and Delta Airlines participated in the test program, and nearly 100,000 American Airlines passengers have signed up.

?Clearly, there is significant interest that we expect to grow into additional customer participation as we add more airports,? said a spokeswoman for American Airlines, who could not confirm the startup date at O'Hare. ?We certainly hope and believe that will be the case. American looks forward to seeing the PreCheck program expand to more airports in the months ahead.?

TSA has been moving towards a more ?risk-based? approach to security in recent months. For example, starting next Monday at O'Hare, passengers over 75 years old won't have to remove their shoes or light outerwear when they go through security, similar to screening policies in place since last fall for passengers who are 12 and under.

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Source: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120315/NEWS03/120319830/precheck-security-screening-arrives-at-ohare-tuesday

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