CrewPASS Demonstrates Required Capabilities For Crew Screening

ARINC Incorporated says its CrewPASS expedited screening service for airline pilots and crewmembers is the only screening solution proven to deliver three primary capabilities requested by the Transportation Security Administration for crew screening. Real-time employment verification, integrated biometric identity verification, and verification of mixed flight deck and cabin crews were three major system goals outlined by the TSA in its original request for crew screening proposals in 2009.

"ARINC CrewPASS has successfully demonstrated real-time employment verification starting in 2008, followed by biometric identity verification in 2009, and verification of mixed flight deck crews and cabin crews in late 2009," stated Tim Ryan, ARINC CrewPASS Program Director. "CrewPASS is the only solution with the demonstrated capability to meet these goals today."

Ryan also announced Wednesday ARINC has developed new technology to reduce the problem of pilot queuing at TSA checkpoints, a growing security concern. He said a new high-speed ID capability, ARINC's Minimal-Queuing Technology, will be added to the CrewPASS system in June.

CrewPASS was developed by ARINC in response to a 2007 Congressional mandate for expedited TSA screening of airline pilots and crewmembers. It is currently in operational testing at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), and Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) in Columbia, South Carolina. Pilots from 61 airlines are participating. TSA officers are able to verify their identities using CrewPASS in less than 8 seconds, allowing them to have secure, expedited boarding.

"While most crew screening proposals are still in the exploratory stage, ARINC's CrewPASS has already demonstrated the major capabilities listed by TSA in its original request for proposals," added Ryan. Since its introduction, CrewPASS has cleared crewmembers for expedited boarding more than 350,000 times. 

ARINC says that CrewPASS already includes large-scale management features essential to support a national rollout. These include consolidated command and control throughout the National Airspace System, integrated maintenance and help-desk functions for highest availability and reliability, and secure account management on-line, enabling crewmembers to control their personally identifiable information.

FMI: www.arinc.com