Preapproved travelers will be able to skip some security measures at Kona International Airport by the end of this year. Preapproved travelers will be able to skip some security measures at Kona International Airport by the end of this year.
Preapproved travelers will be able to skip some security measures at Kona International Airport by the end of this year.
The Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday announced the Kona airport was one of 60 being added to the TSA’s PreCheck Program, which allows frequent fliers to submit some personal information, then be subjected to limited security inspections once at preapproved airports.
Lorie Dankers, TSA spokeswoman, said Kona is one of the country’s top 100 airports and is served by some of the seven airlines which use their frequent flier programs to identify travelers eligible for the PreCheck program. Dankers said right now, travelers have two ways to apply for the PreCheck program. The first is through an invitation from an airline with which the traveler is a frequent flier. Those airlines are Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways and Virgin America.
“If you have been invited by an airline, now is the time to do that,” Dankers said. “You can’t do it at the airport.”
Travelers who are uncertain whether they have been invited can check by looking at their online frequent flier profile with the airline, Dankers said.
Travelers may also apply for the PreCheck clearance through the Customs and Border Protection Trusted Traveler Program. Dankers said there is a fee, about $100, for that clearance, which lasts several years. TSA officials hope to launch their own application process later this year, to open the program to more travelers.
Wednesday’s announcement of the program’s expansion also brings PreCheck to Kahului and Lihue airports. Honolulu International Airport already participates in the program, TSA officials said. Dankers said TSA rolled out the program at 40 of the country’s largest and busiest airports. The program will add TSA PreCheck lanes to security checkpoints, and travelers will have a unique bar code embedded in their boarding passes that identifies them as program participants.
TSA officials, in announcing the expansion, said no traveler is guaranteed expedited screening and PreCheck passengers may still be subject to “random and unpredictable security measures throughout the airport.”
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, in a written statement, said he had asked TSA Administrator John Pistole to expand the program in Hawaii.
“As an island state, Hawaii has unique travel needs,” Schatz said. “By making it easier for the 16,000 to 18,000 passengers who travel daily between the four major islands to commute, we are allowing room for economic growth and expansion.”
