Manufacturing Industry

TSA working on employee ID cards and background checks

Airline Industry Information, April 11, 2002

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is currently developing plans to provide pilots, maintenance workers and others who enter secure areas of airports with tamperproof identification cards.

It has been reported that all transportation employees will carry the same kind of ID card and undergo the same kind of background check, whether they work at airports, seaports, rail yards or other areas. Each employee's ID card - which will not be authorised until they have undergone background checks - will contain biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints, and other technologies to prevent someone else from using it.

The president of the Air Passengers Association has also suggested that the employee ID card could be the prototype for a frequent flyer card, allowing airline passengers to voluntarily undergo background checks to bypass long lines at security checkpoints.

It has not yet been decided how the planned security procedures will be paid for, however the industry and taxpayers will probably share the costs, reported The Associated Press.

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