August 23, 2011

Enhanced Airline Pilot Security Screening Begins at Miami International Airport
Program Strengthens Aviation Security, Expedites Passenger Screening

WASHINGTON, August 23, 2011 – The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) and the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) today began operating the Known Crewmember program at Miami International Airport. Known Crewmember, a new enhanced security-screening program for airline flight crew members, positively verifies a pilot’s identity and employment status, strengthening aviation security and shortening screening lines for passengers.

“The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, has engaged with the Air Transport Association, the Transportation Security Administration, and the airlines to develop the Known Crewmember program, which takes into account the extensive background checks pilots receive as a condition of employment and their critical role and responsibility in ensuring the security of their aircraft,” said Capt. Lee Moak, ALPA’s president. “We’re pleased to begin operating the Known Crewmember program at Miami International Airport today to expedite passenger screening and strengthen aviation security, and we look forward to continuing to expand this important program nationwide.”

“We are pleased to join with ALPA to advance an enhanced security-screening system that can improve security and reduce line congestion, benefiting both passengers and crew members,” said ATA President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “We urge the TSA to include flight attendants in the Known Crewmember screening system so that they – and the traveling public – may also benefit from this enhanced screening system.”

The Known Crewmember program enables Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers to positively verify the identity and employment status of airline flight crew members. As a result, airline pilots, who already undergo thorough criminal background and employment checks as a part of their employment, will be subject to a more efficient security-screening process.

It is the goal of ALPA and the ATA to make the program available to all U.S. airline pilots, and 16 airlines have already connected to the system. The program, which links airline employee databases, initially will be available only to pilots, but ALPA, like the ATA, has asked the TSA to include flight attendants in the future.

Four Known Crewmember airline pilot access points opened today at Miami International Airport. The Known Crewmember program’s first test site was launched earlier this month at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, with additional sites scheduled to begin operating soon at Boston Logan International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.

For more information, visit the Known Crewmember website: www.knowncrewmember.org.

ABOUT ALPA

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilots union, representing more than 53,000 pilots at 39 airlines in the United States and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.

ABOUT ATA

Annually, commercial aviation helps drive more than $1 trillion in U.S. economic activity and nearly 11 million U.S. jobs. ATA airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. For more information about the airline industry, visit www.airlines.org and follow us on Twitter @airlinesassn.

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CONTACTS:
ALPA, Media, 703-481-4440 or media@alpa.org
ATA, Steve Lott, 202-626-4205; slott@airlines.org