TSA Pre✓™ – The Next Step In Our Risk-Based Approach To Further Enhance Airport Security

Starting today at select checkpoints in four airports, TSA will begin testing “TSA Pre✓™,” another key component in our move toward a more risk-based, intelligence-driven approach to security. This limited pilot will help TSA evaluate measures designed to enhance security by placing more focus on pre-screening individuals prior to flying in order to expedite their travel experience.

TSA Pre✓™ allows us to use volunteered information to make risk assessments before the passenger gets to the airport, and enables our officers to focus more attention on those passengers we know the least about. During this pilot, certain frequent fliers from Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, as well as certain members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Trusted Traveler programs, including Global Entry, SENTRI, and NEXUS who are also flying on Delta or American are eligible. Currently, this is only open to American citizens. 

For now, when eligible travelers opt in, TSA Pre✓™ could qualify them for expedited checkpoint screening at select checkpoints at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Dallas Fort Worth International, and Miami International airports. As with any initiative, TSA is testing this pre-screening concept with a small passenger population at a few airports. Only those passengers who opt in will have the opportunity to participate at this time. If the pilot proves successful, we will explore expanding the program to additional travelers, airports and airlines so that more people can benefit.

For those who will participate in the initial pilot, it is important to note that nothing will ever guarantee that an eligible passenger receives expedited security screening. We have built random and unpredictable factors throughout the aviation security system to guard against terrorists gaming the system and this program is no exception. 

We are able to test this concept now partly due to the success of our Secure Flight initiative, which brought watch list matching responsibilities into TSA. TSA Pre✓™ will join other elements of risk-based security currently under way including:

• Testing expedited screening for known airline crewmembers
• Testing the expanded use of behavior detection techniques
• Nationwide changes to our physical security screening process for kids 12-and-under

All of these initiatives are designed to improve our security approach while enhancing the passenger’s security experience. We thank U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the airlines, and passengers for their partnership as we work to provide the most effective transportation security in the most efficient way.  

If you’re an eligible Global Entry member or frequent flier, we look forward to your feedback after you fly through one of the four participating airports.  

For more information on our move toward implementing a more risk-based, intelligence-driven transportation security model, you can read the following blog posts:

3/18/2011 Who Are You? TSA Exploring Identity Based Screening and Known Travelers

7/15/2011Passenger Screening Pilot

9/14/2011 Risk Based Security For Passengers 12 and Under

John. S. Pistole 

TSA Administrator 

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

Staying Ahead of Potential Terrorist Threats

A possible terrorist threat is in the news today, and many of you are likely wondering what’s going on behind the scenes.

TSA recently briefed air carriers and foreign partners on intelligence involving concealed explosives. Unfortunately, intelligence has continued to indicate an interest in terrorists targeting aviation. Due to the global technological advancements in security, they are pursuing different ways to go undetected while concealing explosives.

Passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable and may differ from location to location. What kind of screening might passengers notice? Increased interaction with passengers, pat-downs, canines, and the use of different technologies such as explosive trace detection.

Because TSA does not conduct aviation security screening overseas, our air carrier and foreign government partners play a critical role in identifying and reporting suspicious activities and raising the awareness of U.S. counterterrorism officials. Airports with direct flights to the United States must ensure they meet International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) security standards as well as any additional measures required by TSA. As always, we urge federal, state and local law enforcement as well as the private sector to remain vigilant.

Domestically, TSA employs a layered approach to ensure the security of the traveling public from curb to cockpit and the Nation's transportation system. These layers include intelligence gathering and analysis, deployment of cutting edge technology, random canine team searches at airports, federal air marshals, federal flight deck officers and more security measures both visible and invisible to the public. Each one of these layers alone is capable of stopping a terrorist attack. In combination their security value is multiplied, creating a strong, formidable system. 

Blogger Bob

TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

How Intelligence Drives Operations at TSA

Bloggers Note: Keith Kauffman heads up TSA’s Office of Intelligence. He is a 20-plus year veteran of the National Security Agency (NSA) and is a well-established and respected member of the Intelligence Community. He joined TSA in May 2007. Click here for his full bio.


The Office of Intelligence (OI), which I lead, is part of the larger Department of Homeland Security Intelligence Enterprise and is responsible for integrating timely and actionable information into TSA's daily operations. We also use intelligence to educate and inform the TSA workforce, our partners in airports, airlines, mass transit, etc., and law enforcement on terrorist threats and the tactics, techniques and procedures used by our adversaries.

My office staffs a 24/7 watch operation, which receives intelligence information around the clock from a variety of sources. We have analytic personnel integrated into Intelligence Community organizations, which also gives us insight into evolving threats to U.S. transportation systems. In addition, first thing every morning, Kip Hawley, Mo McGowan (who leads our Office of Security Operations) and I, attend a daily meeting led by the National Counterrorism Center and all the major players in counterterrorism activities, which enables us to discuss and track emerging and ongoing threats.

My office briefs the TSA senior leadership team every morning on the intelligence we obtain and analyze. It's after these briefings that we discuss and use the information presented to make operational decisions. Intelligence we provide routinely results in decisions, such as determining which flights will be covered by our Federal Air Marshals (FAMs). Intelligence also leads to the development of new operational policies at the checkpoints. One recent example has to do with remote control (RC) toys. Our adversaries have been observed using RC toy components to help build, or to detonate Improvised Explosive Devices. The policy developed to help counter this threat in the aviation domain did not mandate prohibiting passengers from carrying RC toys on commercial airplanes. Rather, it educated our Transportation Security Officers about the potential threat from these devices and directed them to use their judgment in selecting passengers with RC cars for additional screening. We also made this information public at the same time—a first for us.

We also routinely use intelligence to inform our government and industry partners about threats we receive to their respective transportation modes, so they can take appropriate actions. We focus on threats to the U.S., but track and report on threats abroad as well.

For example, if we receive intelligence about threat to a foreign airport used by U.S. carriers, we make sure all the carriers providing service to that airport are aware and might also use that information to increase FAM coverage at those locations. We also work with foreign governments to increase security as needed. We also use intelligence to assist with operational exercises and joint exercises. Along with the Federal Aviation Administration in December, we used intelligence to design 13 realistic terrorism scenarios. Those scenarios, which were played out during the exercise, helped us and our FAA partners review and refine contingency plans and determine how best to work together, in the event that any of those or similar scenarios occur in the future.

I spent 24 years as a member of the Intelligence Community before coming to the TSA. Often, intelligence agency personnel don’t see the results of their efforts. It’s been incredibly rewarding personally, to see how the work done by the dedicated men and women of our agencies involved with the counterterrorism mission, is put to great use at TSA each day.

I also travel with my family and talk to my friends, some of whom have been know to grumble from time to time (and you know who you are!) about taking off their shoes, etc. I wanted to join this blog effort, so I could relay the same message to you that I’ve discussed with my family and friends. There really is a robust and dedicated intelligence effort in place at the TSA, that is well connected to the larger Intelligence Community and which drives everything we do on a daily basis, to protect our Nation’s transportation systems and those who use them for travel and commerce.

Keith Kauffman