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Many pilots reporting for work at Salt Lake City International Airport can now speed through security and get to their airplanes sooner under a program launched this week.
Called "Known Crewmember," the procedure applies to pilots for Delta Air Lines, SkyWest Airlines, United Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Pilots employed by other carriers serving the airport must still pass through the same screening process for passengers, said Rusty Ayers, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association.
"This system takes [Delta, SkyWest, United and Frontier pilots] out of security lines. Pilots get to work faster," Ayers said.
The pilots qualified to use the new system present their company identification to a Transportation Security Administration employee stationed in Terminal One. If the pilot is in a TSA database of "known crew members," he or she can pass through. TSA will screen pilots and their carry-on bags only on a random basis.
The program was developed by the pilots union and Airlines for America, a trade group that represents U.S. airlines, in conjunction with TSA.
Salt Lake City was the 11th airport to implement the program since it was rolled out last year.
More than 100 pilots used the new procedure Tuesday, Ayers said.