WASHINGTON, DC – US Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow responds to news reports on the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) elimination from its PreCheck program the practice of “managed inclusion,” which had allowed random non-PreCheck-cleared travelers to enter the faster lanes at screening checkpoints:
“The travel community was briefed by TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger on the elimination of ‘managed inclusion’ and supported it, but with a caveat: that Congress and the Administration continue to emphasize and provide resources for expanding the PreCheck program, which has been a powerful tool for making travel both more secure and more expedient.
“Screening travelers to eliminate them as risks before they even get to the airport, as the PreCheck program does, simultaneously boosts both the security and efficiency of travel—exactly the kind of innovative approach our modern age demands. The fact that ‘managed inclusion’ existed in the first place was an acknowledgment that our screening procedures needed to become more streamlined, but the time had come to get rid of it because there are clearly better options available.
“No matter which trusted traveler program we’re talking about—PreCheck, Global Entry, SENTRI or NEXUS—knowledge is power when it comes to security, and without security, there can be no travel.
“We thank Administrator Neffenger for his commitment to evolving and enhancing PreCheck, and our industry looks forward to working with him and TSA to help implement further improvements. We are confident that as the agency continues to innovate, the current transitional period will soon give way to a more efficient and convenient new reality.”
