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.