Airport security checkpoints have been the end of the line since soon after the 9/11 attacks for most friends and relatives who want to see off departing passengers. That is changing at some U.S. airports.
The Transportation Security Administration is allowing eligible TSA PreCheck members without tickets to pass through security and enter gate areas, reviving a tradition that largely disappeared after the attacks 25 years ago this week.
The program, called Gateside by TSA PreCheck" is free, but interested members must apply online one to three days before their planned visits and receive approval before going to the airport. If approved, they can enter security using a TSA PreCheck lane with an acceptable form of identification. The passes are valid for one calendar day, but reentries are allowed on that day.
Honestly, I only want airplane passengers past the gate. It would be chaos.
I remember dropping off a girlfriend at the airport back in the 90s. The security desk asked me to leave my pocket knife at the security station before preceding to the gate. When I came back, the security guy was gone but there was a plastic box full of knifes and stuff to be retrieved on the honor system.
Sweet! Free knife box!
At least make sure you transfer the knives to a cup or something before taking the box, you wild animal!
One of my friends bought one of these boxes from a TSA auction and now just gives free knives to anyone who visits.
This update brought to you by airport restaurants selling $25 fries.
It will help when people ship their kids off to grandma’s, helping eldery out, or whatever. Parents can be there and see the kid onto the plane rather than depending on airline employees to do all the handling.
That said, gates and airports are crowded AF. I don’t like this idea very much other than very limitied circumstances.
I’d have no problem with it if it were free of charge and the lines moved. But it’s not, and they don’t
I don’t see how they do that without having to check ID’s at the gates in addition to at TSA… once you have non-travelers allowed back to the gates it’s easy to switch places and you don’t know who is going where…
You still have to have a valid ticket to board the plane. So I’m not sure what the concern would be.
Person-A has a ticket, Person-B accompanies to the gate… switching places with Person-A because who knows why…
I mean, neither method makes sense… I’d rather they ID check at boarding and forget the whole massive choke point that is the TSA checkin…
From a security perspective, if two people and the luggage clear screening, and one ticketed person proceeds to fly with the luggage, then it doesn’t matter which one of them it was, right? I’m sure it’s against the rules and the airlines might care. But just gaming the scenario out, I don’t see how a pre-screened gate visitor changes the security posture as long as one of them boards the plane with the luggage.
I think that’s more about making sure they know who is flying…it’s more about accountability than it is managing who is travelling. So much of our airport security is performative, it doesn’t actually matter… They don’t care that Bob blew the plane up, they care that they can put a picture on TV saying “This is who did it”
Are we worried about people doing crimes on the plane, or just generally worried about controlling what people do and where they go?
Why is it your concern if someone goes to a different place than they said they would?
I think they’re probably worried aboutnall or those things.
I’m not sure why someone would want to do this and even if they did I’m not sure why it would be a major issue.
I don’t have info here for a full system, but my airport is one of these that allows the non-passengers through TSA permission. When you scan your boarding pass at the jet bridge to get on the plane, a picture of your face comes up on the display and the airline gate worker appears to verify the person with the boarding pass matches the person entering.
Somehow, this wasn’t a problem 25 years ago.
Oh stowaways was a huge problem in the 70’s and 80’s… less so as electronic ticket scanners became a thing… but there was always someone doing the “I just need to bring my husband/wife/son something” and hiding out in the Lav until takeoff…hoping for an empty seat to settle into…
Where would they get the extra boarding pass? Also, that’s a problem solved with electronic scanning, not with TSA checkpoints.
With facial recognition and other shit they might not even care anymore.
It’s possible… My opinion on it is kinda worthless…I don’t fly anymore… Last plane trip I took was in 2019. I’m at the point where if I can’t drive there, I have no interest in going.
This is technically not new, several airports already have their own version that doesn’t require tsa pre or a 3 day advance notice.
AFAIK DTW was the first, and they now allow you to print an access pass right at the terminal entrance so you can go through security as a non passenger.
Also to the comments complaining about long lines and traffic, that just means your airport sucks lol. ATL and ORD have some of the most horrendous pedestrian design and understaffed sections in the world. They aren’t 3 hour line busy because of the sheer volume, they just already sucked total garbage at handling that volume.
DTW had some very weird roles at the beginning, I think it’s easier now.
When my father traveled I applied and they told me to come to the “office” at 9am on the day of the flight to verify my docs and pick up the pass, but the flight was at 7am. I called and told them about the flight time and told me they could not issue it a day prior and recommended to change my father’s flight…
Git gud
Another shrewd move to collect biometric data.
We were able to assist our ex who was blind even without a ticket because they didn’t have any available guides for him back in 2022
Because airports and security lines aren’t crowded enough already.
Just a new way to grift
I have TSA Pre, and I could see using this if, say, my kid was travelling solo (which is increasingly likely).
You could always do this for kids
I flew a couple times prior to 9/2001. I did not enjoy the random solicitors bothering me as I waited for a flight. I enjoy knowing everyone in the terminal is there for flying business and not pan handling or evangelism or some other ulterior motive that cuts into my interverted leave me alone so I can focus on my trip vibe.
You can just tell those people to fuck off, same as in any other public space.
I’m pathologically polite and non-confrontational and the anxiety of interacting is less intense than the anxiety of feeling like an asshole. I’m not great at enforcing my boundaries, so I appreciate it when societal policy sets them for me.
I used to be the same, but spending enough time in large cities helped me build the defenses I needed in order to tell those in need of off-fucking to do just that.
Sad how socially-enriched urban environments seem to best bring out my antisociality.
This assholes started it. You get to end it.
Don’t they just check ID at the security line? Are they running that ID through a database of some sort to make sure you’re flying?
But can I just hang out and watch planes take off and land? I miss that.
