U.S. to Start Mandatory Airline Background Checks Soon

Homeland Security officials say a government plan to check all airline passengers' backgrounds before they board a plane could be fully implemented by this summer. However, the decision to launch the controversial system could bring the feds a lot of flack from air travelers.
 
The new security procedure -- called The Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II -- seems to be so urgent for the government to implement that it will continue to order airlines to provide background information on their customers to test the program, Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson said Monday.

CAPPS II, would screen all passengers by checking that information against commercial and government databases. Each passenger would be given one of three color-coded ratings.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Hutchinson said he wants to begin testing this spring. His spokesman, Dennis Murphy, said the plan could be fully operational by summer.

This could add fire to a program, which has already plagued those carriers who agreed to test it. Northwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines already have come under fire for sharing passenger information with the government without letting customers know. They were criticized for voluntarily passing information in violation of their privacy policies.

Other U.S. airlines have been reluctant to cooperate with the government because of those concerns and possible backlash from passengers. CAPPS II that has been criticized by privacy advocates, who contend it infringes on civil liberties and might wrongly label people as security threats.

Jim May, president of the Air Transport Association said it's imperative that protections for passengers be in place before the government issues any directives to make the procedure mandatory. He questioned whether that could happen fast enough to allow full implementation this summer. Top airline executives met at the Air Transport Association last week to discuss their misgivings about CAPPS II and agreed to work with the Homeland Security Department to ensure that traveler privacy is protected.

Hutchinson said the government will work with airlines to deal with their uneasiness but will compel them to participate.
 
"We expect at this point the airlines will want a clear rule or directive from the government before they'd release information," he said.

European airlines already have agreed to provide data, he said.

Testing would use old passenger data from the airlines' reservation systems, spokesman Murphy said. If it should happen to identify a terrorist suspect, Murphy said law enforcement officials would be notified.

"The information that is given by a passenger to the airlines is important for us to have - in terms of name, address, date of birth - so we can properly assure the safety of a particular flight," Hutchinson said.

FMI:  www.dhs.gov