Good news for Global Entry folks! TSA and Immgration & Customs are collaborating on a pilot program that will allow those approved for Global Entry to get expedited treatment at TSA security checkpoints. It is unclear how extensive the program will be, but hopefully it will be implemented at many major airports.

From the Global Entry website:

TSA’s Expedited Screening Pilot Program

We are pleased to announce that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is partnering with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on a new Department of Homeland Security initiative announced July 14, 2011 that qualifies some passengers for expedited screening through U.S. airport security checkpoints.

This pilot program will be available to U.S. citizens who are members of CBP's Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI Trusted Traveler programs. The pilot program will provide expedited screening through TSA checkpoints. Additional information will be available prior to the pilot's implementation, explaining more about the program and the necessary steps you will need to take in order to participate. For more information and the latest updates, please visit www.tsa.gov.

I am excited about this. I received the message below from AA about this on July 14th.


The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced it will be trial testing this fall a new pre-screening program that could offer some airline passengers expedited screening through U.S. security checkpoints.

American Airlines is pleased to announce our partnership with the TSA in testing this new concept at our hubs in Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami. Because of your current status as an AAdvantage® member, you may be eligible to participate and potentially be cleared through the TSA pre-vetting process, resulting in some screening benefits at the checkpoint. During the first phase of testing, certain frequent flyers and members of Customs and Border Protection's Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI programs, who are United States citizens, will be eligible to participate in this pilot program which could qualify them for expedited screening.

The TSA will determine who participates in the trial on a per-flight segment basis. Please be aware that AAdvantage membership itself does not guarantee that you would receive expedited screening. To be considered for participation in the trial, you will be required to opt-in and give us your consent to share your AAdvantage status with the TSA. The details and instructions regarding the opt-in for this program will be sent to you at a later date. Your consent will add you to the subset of flyers that may be considered for the TSA’s expedited screening procedures at our Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami hubs.

For more information please visit tsa.gov.

Here is a link to a more detailed description of the program: http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/escreening.shtm.

Also, while perusing the TSA website I found some news releases suggesting that TSA is also going to start doing brief interviews of passengers at security checkpoints and then send those who don't "pass" the interview for further screening; this will be a pilot program that will begin at Boston's Logan airport. Although this is the sort of thing the Israelis do successfully(and I guess security agents in some other countries as well), I wonder whether TSA would really hire a sufficient number of competent behavioral "analyzers" to make this sort of thing work.

First off, I think Global Entry is racist against people who cant pass background checks. Screw all you guys and your clean background checks. I writing my Congressman and telling him that if they let you guys on a plane without first having your nuts fondled by a gay dude..... the terrorist have won. I'm not sure how exactly that works, but since our government has spent like a gazillion borrowed dollars pursuing fondling nutsacks just to stick it to the terrorists (?????) then by not fondeling nutsacks, the terrorists win (?????). Like I say, not sure how that works but my government knows best.

Seriously, it's all nothing more than a puppet show costing billions of dollars we should be spending somewhere else. TSA as an agency ranks somewhere at the lowest level of morons.

IAS, as to TSA nut-sack fondling, better you than me.

Well, IAS will get a free nut-sack fondling to go along with his free ATM transactions.

That sounds like a world in balance to me

Hey IAS you congressman is a teabagger, so bitching to him about nut sack fondling won't do you much good. LOL

Just got this email today:

We are pleased to announce that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is partnering with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on a new Department of Homeland Security initiative announced July 14, 2011, that qualifies some passengers for expedited screening through U.S. airport security checkpoints.

This pilot program will be available to U.S. citizens who are members of CBP’s Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI Trusted Traveler programs.  The pilot program will provide expedited screening through TSA checkpoints via dedicated screening lanes.  

Additional information will be sent out prior to the pilot’s implementation, explaining more about the program and the necessary steps you will need to take in order to participate.

For more information and the latest updates, please visit www.tsa.gov or contact TSA at (866)289-9673.

Additionally, CBP would like to announce the availability of Global Entry kiosks at select Canadian preclearance locations.  Global Entry kiosks are now available at CBP preclearance at the Vancouver International Airport and at Ottawa’s MacDonald-Cartier Airport.  Global Entry kiosks will be placed at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport and at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport by September 2011.  The placement of Global Entry kiosks at Canadian preclearance locations is the next step in the integration of the Global Entry and NEXUS Trusted Traveler programs.  

The integration of the Global Entry and NEXUS programs began in December 2010, when CBP published a Federal Register Notice announcing that NEXUS members could participate in Global Entry.  With the deployment of Global Entry kiosks to Canadian preclearance, Global Entry members will be able to take advantage of the program when returning home from Canada.  NEXUS members will have the option of using either the Global Entry or NEXUS kiosks in preclearance.  Further announcements will be made as necessary.     

One serious point is that AFIK this will only apply to travelers on select US airlines. Travelers who are flying on any foreign airlines will not be participating in the preliminary TSA program. Thus, you have your choice. Get you nuts fondled by a gay dude at the TSA checkpoint but get served by smoking hot flight attendants with great attitudes on some non-US airline...... or breeze through the TSA checkpoint with your testicles unmolested, but put up with surly 60y/o grannies with bad attitudes as flight attendants on US airlines. Your Choice. ;)

Although I have been flying quite a bit lately, I only had one TSA near-testicle fondling incident. Usually they just let me through security without forcing me into the radiation chamber, but one time I was directed to the chamber and in response I demanded the alternative hand search instead given I'm not a great fan of radiation-induced cancer (IAS, no lectures about how much radiation we get while flying in an airplane please).

After a notable smirk they assigned an ornery TSA guy to do the hand search but he apparently didn't have the balls to touch my balls. Or maybe he was fighting his latent homosexuality and couldn't bring himself to do any semi-public testicle fondling.

Whatever the explanation, I am proud to say I remain a TSA testicle-fondling virgin.