The Transportation Security Administration is extending the PreCheck passenger screening program to passengers flying on international airlines, as Air Canada becomes the first non-US airline to sign up to the scheme.
Following Air Canada, TSA officials said other foreign carriers will also join and are talking to a number of other airlines.
Air Canada operates to more US airports than any other foreign airline.
It serves 49 US airports but PreCheck expedited screening will only be available at 41.
For the time being, the TSA says Air Canada passengers will have to print boarding passes at airport check-in desks to use the program.
It said later this year PreCheck passengers on Air Canada will be able to print boarding passes at home or use the airline’s mobile app.
The US government is encouraging the participation of foreign carriers to help checkpoint congestion and airlines will be required to upgrade computer systems at their own cost.
The PreCheck scheme would benefit carriers such as British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa as they carry a high proportion of US travelers, but the TSA is speaking to both large and small international carriers.
The program was launched in October 2011 and is now available at 118 commercial airports.
Roughly a third of the 14 million passengers who travel every week pass through fast-track PreCheck screening.
Passengers approved for PreCheck lanes do not need to remove shoes or jackets, can keep liquids and laptops in their bags and only pass through a standard metal detector, which the TSA says is twice as fast as a conventional screening line.
