Have we reached peak PreCheck?

Jeff Price, an aviation professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, has started hearing grumbling in the exceedingly crowded PreCheck lanes.

With more than 40 million people enrolled in the government’s Trusted Traveler program, he said his fellow passengers are wondering whether the expedited security program has become too popular - and too slow.

PreCheck fliers who once breezed, but now shuffle, through airport screening lines might wonder: Is the old standard lane a better option?

Since the program debuted in 2013, the number of travelers enrolled in PreCheck, which allows participants to skip standard security scrutiny, has swelled. When factoring in people who acquired trusted traveler status through other programs and affiliations, such as active military and Global Entry, the PreCheck rolls exceed 41 million. The Transportation Security Administration said about 30 percent of fliers are PreCheck members, and it wants that number to increase to a 70 percent majority.

The idea of cramming more people into these designated areas seems to defy the point of the fast lane, especially if you have to show up at the airport earlier and stand in line longer. Price said travelers should lower their expectations, but advised against quitting PreCheck.

“You might want to stick around here because the PreCheck lines typically move faster, and you still don’t have the hassle of removing the liquids and the laptops and the shoes,” he said.

[‘Busiest Thanksgiving ever’: How the TSA plans to handle record air travel]

How TSA PreCheck works

For wait times, TSA maintains a benchmark of no more than 10 minutes for PreCheck and 30 minutes or less for regular service. The agency said it can usually achieve this goal because trusted travelers have a head start on screening.

“In general, because all of the individuals in TSA PreCheck are low-risk and have undergone that thorough background check, we are able to more efficiently process them,” said Anne Walbridge, who oversees the PreCheck program. “So, even as the numbers grow, we are able to get higher volumes of those individuals through the checkpoint.”

Roughly 100 airlines and more than 200 airports participate in the program. TSA said the major airports - Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, New York’s JFK, Los Angeles International - receive “a significant proportion” of precleared passengers, a group skewed heavily toward business travelers and frequent fliers. The agency would not disclose which metropolitan areas have the highest enrollment.

Price said the busiest airports were the first ones to sign up, because they had the most pressing need for it.

“At the smaller airports, it’s more of a convenience for the passenger,” he said. “At the larger airports, it can get me through the line 60 minutes faster than everybody else.”

During holidays, the agency said that contrary to the spike in overall travelers - an estimated 18.3 million over the Thanksgiving period - PreCheck volume actually dips from the norm.

“The typical business traveler or kind of high-frequency leisure traveler may not be traveling over these peak holiday seasons,” Walbridge said.

But that could change as more people sign up for the service, as could the experience on regular travel days. Price does not think the agency will reach its 70 percent goal; he said 50 percent is more realistic. But the agency and airports will have to adjust to the ballooning crowds.

“What we’re seeing is this trend of more people using PreCheck,” Price said.

TSA officials said they will accommodate the holiday crush by adapting in real time, a strategy that could help checkpoints absorb the growing ranks of PreCheck members.

Michal Rottman, the agency’s assistant administrator for domestic aviation operations, said it receives passenger information in advance, including which passengers are in PreCheck, and works with its national operations team and local airports to handle the ebb and flow of passengers. Rottman said the staff will add lanes and/or personnel during busy periods, for instance.

“They manage lanes on a minute-by-minute basis,” she said. “They can support that volume as it’s presenting.”

Henry Harteveldt, founder and president of Atmosphere Research Group, said the TSA can respond to a PreCheck surge by temporarily reallocating standard lanes. Once the demand has subsided, the area can revert to its original assignment.

“There’s no difference, really, between the screening equipment itself,” he said.

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How screening tech is advancing

Technological advances also help expedite the process. Walbridge said nearly 10 airports, including Chicago O’Hare, New York’s JFK and Atlanta, feature Touchless ID, available only to PreCheck members.

Delta and United are participating in the program, which replaces physical forms of identification with facial recognition, and Alaska and American Airlines could join within the next few months, Walbridge said. The high-tech ID check can take six to eight seconds.

More broadly, the TSA is introducing innovations such as automated screening lanes with advanced scanners to enhance security, bolster efficiency and improve the screening experience.

Thanks to 3D imaging, passengers can leave their electronics and small amounts of liquids in their carry-on bags. As of last September, the agency has installed more than 770 CAT scanners at about 230 airports.

How airports are investing in faster security

Through the FAA’s Infrastructure Law and other grants programs, many airports are investing multimillion-dollar grants in updating or expanding screening operations. Kahului Airport, in Hawaii, will use part of its $8.6 million gift to build a two-story checkpoint facility with six new screening lanes; Kentucky’s Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, which received $7.5 million, will extend its Terminal A checkpoint by four lanes.

“If the airports are able to expand their footprint to accommodate additional lanes based on capacity, TSA will deploy technology for those lanes,” Rottman said. “We work very closely with the airport to ensure that we’re able to manage the volume as it presents in the checkpoint as currently designed.”

Walbridge said about 90 percent of applicants receive their “known traveler number” within three to five days of their in-person appointment. Though it’s too late to become a member before Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah are several weeks away.

Price increases his odds of speeding through security by paying for a Clear membership in addition to PreCheck. When he arrives at an airport, he will assess the checkpoint and choose the service with the shortest line.

So far, he has not had to use the regular lane.