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Security: TSA says flight crew can cut in line
The TSA, along with five other aviation industry associations, has green-lighted US commercial flight crew members to participate in the KCM or Known Crewmember initiative. KCM offers expedited security screening to pre-screened individuals in an effort to concentrate security efforts where they are most needed.
The decision will usher flight attendants and other crew members through the security process at up to 31 airports by the end of the year. Launched in 2011, the program was formerly limited to US airline pilots.
The TSA said that it anticipates it could take up to 12 months for air carriers and service providers to make the necessary system modifications and fully develop, test, and implement the change to the KCM program. They stated that flight attendants could get expedited screening as early as fall 2012.
Although the system will be designed to speed flight crew through airports, the TSA says that they will continue to incorporate random and unpredictable screening methods throughout the airport screening procedure. Even though KCM will now give flight crew priority along with pilots, they stress that no passenger (including crew) is guaranteed expedited screening.
Flight crew have increasingly been the subject of public ‘meltdowns’ and altercations with passengers and other crew members. This summer, Clayton Osbon, a JetBlue pilot (presumably with KCM clearance) was wrestled to the ground by fellow crew members when he suffered a mental breakdown in flight.
Gretchen Kelly
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