TSA and Continental Airlines Expand Paperless Boarding Pass Program at SJU

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Continental Airlines announced today the expansion of the Paperless Boarding Pass pilot program at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU). The program will allow passengers to receive boarding passes electronically on their cell phones or PDAs, which will then be scanned by Transportation Security Officers at the checkpoint and eliminate the need for a paper boarding pass.

"The deployment of the mobile boarding pass highlights TSA's ongoing commitment to innovative technologies to further enhance security," said Jose Baquero, TSA Federal Security Director for Puerto Rico. "We are pleased to be able to partner with Continental Airlines to provide travelers with this option."

Each paperless boarding pass will display an encrypted two-dimensional bar code along with passenger and flight information that will identify the traveler. TSA Travel Document Checkers will use scanners to validate the authenticity of the paperless boarding pass sent to Continental passengers. The new technology heightens the ability to detect fraudulent boarding passes while improving customer service and reducing paper use.

TSA created the concept of how to scan the paperless boarding passes and Continental Airlines developed an implementation plan that involved encrypting the paperless boarding pass to ensure authenticity. Continental is the first U.S. carrier to test paperless boarding passes and offers the service now at 37 airports.

"We are very pleased that Puerto Rico has been selected as the introductory market of the mobile boarding pass program in the Caribbean and Latin America," said Rigoberto Alvarenga, Senior Director for Continental Airlines in the Caribbean. "Our customers surely appreciate this new technology as an added value when traveling. This program saves time and allows them to take more control of their travel experience."

The TSA Paperless Boarding Pass pilot program is currently operating at approximately 40 airports. The pilot is consistent with the global standard of the International Air Transport Association for bar coding of passenger boarding passes. TSA will continue to expand the use of electronic boarding pass scanners at the pace of participating airlines.

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TSA's Secure Flight Begins Vetting Passengers

/PRNewswire / -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today the implementation of the Secure Flight program, which shifts pre-departure watch list matching responsibilities from individual aircraft operators to TSA and carries out a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. To date TSA has assumed the watch list matching responsibility for passengers on domestic commercial flights with four volunteer aircraft operators and will add more carriers in the coming months.

"The implementation of Secure Flight is a critical step towards mitigating threats we know exist in our aviation system," said TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides. "Secure Flight improves security and protects passenger privacy and civil liberties by ensuring the confidentiality of government watch list matching protocols."

Under Secure Flight, airlines will gather a passenger's full name, date of birth, and gender when making an airline reservation to determine if the passenger is a match to the No Fly or Selectee lists. By providing the additional data elements of gender and date of birth, Secure Flight will more effectively help prevent misidentification of passengers who have similar names to individuals on the watch list.

In addition to addressing misidentification, Secure Flight protects sensitive watch list data and enables officials to address security threats sooner, keeping air travel safer. By implementing one watch list matching system, the program provides a fair and consistent matching process across all airlines.

TSA continues to provide a robust redress process through the Department of Homeland Security's Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) (www.dhs.gov/trip), a single portal for travelers to seek redress for adverse screening experiences and resolve possible watch list misidentification issues. Secure Flight uses the results of the redress process in its watch list matching process to prevent future misidentification of passengers who may have a name that's similar to an individual on the watch list.

The second stage of implementation, which is expected to begin in late 2009, will assume the watch list matching function for passengers on international flights from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and international air carriers.

TSA's goal is to vet 100 percent of all domestic commercial flights by early 2010 and 100 percent of all international commercials flights by the end of 2010.

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