Delays in an Effort to Avoid Delays (Registered Traveller program)

[brooklynite]

The Registered Traveler program, which promises to help frequent fliers pass through airport security faster if they pay an annual membership fee and undergo a background check, has been pulled aside for a secondary inspection before its scheduled introduction next month.

Many corporate travel managers — who will be approving the expenses of the travelers most likely to join the program — say they remain concerned about crucial issues. The program is expected to start expanding next month beyond Orlando, the only airport where it is currently operating, to as many as 20 other airports by the end of the year.

The travel managers' concerns include the potential effects on the career of an employee who for one reason or another (including a possible mistake in databases) is rejected during the federal background check. Also, given that the federal government criteria for those background checks will remain secret, how can someone who has been rejected appeal the decision?

"We've always supported the Registered Traveler program as a way to get business travelers through airports faster," said Greeley Koch, the president of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives. "But there are certain key areas we want to make sure are addressed."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/business/16registered.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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Gee, I thought "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear"...

[sofa king]

1. Why should wealthy and important people need checks at all?

Certainly millionaires wouldn't wish to attack America, and important people wouldn't facilitate those attacks or interfere with the subsequent investigations. It's not like someone is going to jump out of the first class section and hijack a plane.

Oh, wait a minute. That's exactly what happened.

Come to think of it, why do the rest of us have to go through these fucking checks, when it's the wealthy and important people attacking us?

[Coventina]

2. I've said it before and I'll say it again......

What's to prevent a terrorist with a clean record to get this special clearance?!?!

Don't tell me it can't be done, because we know it can.