Dear Bureau Pat,

Why is it that Transportation Security Administration screeners at airports are staffing a special line for first-class and business-class travelers?  We all pay taxes to fund the government (including the TSA).  What business does the government have using its resources to red-carpet first-class passengers?  Aren't we who have to travel coach insulted enough by the whole process of air travel these days?

Weary Traveler,

I hate to say you get what you pay for, but, in this case, you kind of do.

You're correct in that everybody pays taxes to help fund the TSA - except for those with teams of tax attorneys and offshore accounts, of course. But your gripe with the special lines for those "red-carpet first-class passengers" should actually be directed toward the airlines and airports that create and manage them.

You see, the TSA is only responsible for actually screening the passengers. How passengers get to that security checkpoint is completely in the hands of the airlines and airports. That means you really can't blame the TSA when you see a first class passenger whiz by an hour-long line in a matter of minutes. All you can do is stretch out a leg and hope like hell his clumsy fall provides you some stress relief or, if recorded, wins you $10,000 on America's funniest home videos.

"The physical rope and stanchions and the real estate they occupy is the responsibility of the airlines or, in some cases, the airports," TSA spokesman Mark O. Hatfield Jr. told the Washington Post. "The TSA area begins just past the ticket checkers. From that point forward, we treat them all the same" (unless you're Arab-looking, sweating profusely, and quietly muttering Allah akbar).

At the end of the day, passengers are funneled into the same security checkpoints the way mortgages were funneled to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. No one cared how they got there until they arrived. It's the equipment used during the screening process that is paid for by tax dollars, not the lines that you take to get there. Airport operators are allowed to configure lines however they please - hence the absurdly long ropes at Dulles - so long as all passengers are screened prior to stepping aboard their flights.

Your complaints may also be focused more on registered traveler programs like Clear lanes, created by Verified Identity Pass, which offer private queues for their members. Passengers pay an annual fee of $100, in addition to a $28 charge for an advanced and in-depth TSA background check. Those who receive security clearance are then given a biometric identifier (e.g. a James Bonds-like iris scan) that allows them to enter the shorter line. Passengers still proceed through security checkpoints.

"At Clear, we see ourselves, first and foremost, as exactly that kind of common-sense risk management solution to the security bottlenecks that are the by-product of the post-September 11 world," Steven Brill, CEO of Verified Identity Pass, says.

Although these programs are accessible to everybody, only passengers willing to shell out the money can receive the benefits. Some airlines oppose these programs, but I wouldn't commend them just yet. Airlines would probably want their passengers to pay extra for business class if only to skip long lines, rather than pay a fee to another company for the service.

In fact, it's the TSA that actually deserves a little credit for trying to make airline commutes easier. In February 2007 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the TSA launched a Black Diamond Self-Select Lanes pilot project that has expanded to more than 30 other airports. The program allows passengers to choose from three lines depending on the type of rider you are. Green lines are for families and people traveling with special needs passengers, blue lines are for casual travelers familiar with security procedures, and black lines are for expert travelers.

"We are enhancing security by creating a less stressful experience. This enables our officers to provide better support to the people who need it most, while others are able to navigate the checkpoint more expeditiously," Earl Morris, TSA federal security director at Salt Lake says. "Passengers will ultimately determine the success of the pilot."

Basically, if people follow the rules and enter the line they are supposed to be in, everybody wins. Of course, the same is true for highways and look how many morons end up driving slow in the fast lane. And more often than not, first class and business passengers tend to fly more than the other passengers. Nothing is really stopping you from entering the expert line, but do you really want to be the slowpoke holding up a group of snarling airline passengers breathing down your neck when your flight is three hours away?

And the program is working. According to the TSA blog, "peak wait times at Salt Lake City this past Memorial Day weekend were about half as along as they were last year, even though the number of passengers going through the checkpoint actually went up by about 5 percent."

Self-Select lanes are having the same results in other airports across the nation as well. These checkpoints are simply more efficient. But it's up to the airports whether they implement these lanes. So if you want to see change, you're going to have to take it up with them.

The Only,

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