No-Fly List Has Doubled in Size and Will Get Bigger

Terror Watch List Growing

U.S. enforcement and intelligence officials said Wednesday that the no-fly list barring passengers with suspected terror ties from boarding planes has already increased in size since the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253, and was likely to get much larger.

Security procedures have been stepped up since the attempted bombing of Delta Flight 253 on Dec. 25, 2009.

U.S. enforcement and intelligence officials said Wednesday that the no-fly list barring passengers with suspected terror ties from boarding planes has already increased in size since the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253.

“It’s getting bigger and it will get much bigger,” said Russell Travers, deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, testifying at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

After the hearing, government officials confirmed to ABC News an earlier press report that the no-fly list had nearly doubled in size since December 25, from 3,400 names to over 6,000 individuals.

“The figure reported today generally reflects that expansion, although the number of individuals on the no-fly list varies daily,” said an official from the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center (TSC).

via Source.

Secure Flight Improves Safety And Passenger Delays

The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Secure Flight is a behind-the-scenes watch list matching program designed to keep suspected or known terrorists off flights into or out of U.S. airports. This important layer of security is being phased in with airlines nationwide. Many airlines are fully participating in the program today, and more are coming on board each week. It will be fully implemented for all domestic flights early next year.

Initially, the Secure Flight program was part of a larger debate about how to identify terrorists consistently while maintaining the privacy of fliers in the post-9/11 world. Once watch list matching was determined to be the correct mechanism, TSA designed the program with privacy and security embedded into its foundation. Secure Flight now uses advanced watch list matching technology and has taken the time to get it right.

For nine out of 10 program areas, the Government Accountability Office recently stated: “TSA has demonstrated that it completed all key activities related to the condition in accordance with applicable federal guidelines and related best practices, which should reduce the risk of the program experiencing cost, schedule, or performance shortfalls.”

When booking air travel, passengers will be prompted to provide their name as it appears on the government-issued ID they plan to use when traveling, as well as their date of birth and gender.

By matching all of this data against watch lists, Secure Flight keeps known or suspected terrorists from flying while reducing the hassle for people who had previously been inconvenienced because their name was similar to someone who is actually on a watch list. By supplying this information, more than 99% of passengers will be cleared. Aside from providing this additional reservation information, passengers’ experience under Secure Flight will be unchanged.

Protecting the transportation network in a post-9/11 world requires utilizing intelligence in developing sound security practices, protecting privacy and forging strong partnerships with industry. Secure Flight employs all of these elements to keep the flying public safe.

via Opposing view: Program keeps fliers safe – Opinion – USATODAY.com.

TSA Launches Secure Flight Program

Don’t be surprised if you’re asked to provide your date of birth and gender when booking plane tickets this summer.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has launched a program to improve security and reduce misidentification of passengers who have names similar to individuals on government watch lists.

As part of Secure Flight, airlines will ask passengers buying tickets to provide their names exactly as they appear on the government-issued identification they plan to use when traveling. Later, airlines will begin asking passengers to provide birth dates and gender.

via TSA launches ‘Secure Flight’ program – Los Angeles Times.