US Travel Industry Warns of Summer Delays Amid Congressional Pushback on Biometrics

07.05.2024 - 18:51 / travelpulse.com / North America / Geoff Freeman / Rich Thomaselli

Could the summer air travel season be impacted by a potential Congressional amendment?

The U.S. Travel Association seems to think so.

And it could mean significantly longer wait times at security checkpoints at airports.

Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and John Kennedy (R-LA) have proposed a controversial amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill that would hinder the use of biometric technology.

According to U.S. Travel analysis, the proposed amendment could result in travelers waiting an additional cumulative 120 million hours in TSA checkpoint lines each year by significantly slowing both PreCheck and standard screening lanes. The amendment includes a proposal to eliminate facial recognition.

And the last thing air travelers want is to spend more time in the airport.

“The proposed amendment to FAA reauthorization is dangerous, costly and threatens to create chaos at America’s airports,” said Geoff Freeman, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “Eliminating the use of biometrics – such as facial scans – will set America back by decades and only misinformed members of Congress are to blame.”

Facial recognition technology is a controversial topic, to say the least.

The U.S. Travel Association contends that the Merkley/Kennedy Amendment would enforce a complete and total ban on TSA's use of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) until the agency complies with certain requirements.

The proposal would also ban the use of FRT for non-trusted travelers and stop expansion of FRT matching technology to new airports until May 2027, while stopping expansion and enrollment in TSA PreCheck Touchless Identity Solution beyond existing customers at six airports where it is in use today.

“This proposed legislation threatens to turn America’s airports into the equivalent of college bars where fake IDs rule the day,” said Freeman. “TSA, to its credit, is innovating with the latest security technology and members of Congress are threatening to stand in its way–at the expense of the travel experience.”

The senators have not responded as of Friday morning.

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