Correction: This article misstated the price of the TSA PreCheck sign-up fee. It is $85.
People wanting to sign up for a Transportation Security Administration program that can whisk them through airport security soon will have a more convenient place to do it if they are flying from the state's largest airport.
Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field is preparing to allow people to sign up for the Transportation Security Administration's PreCheck program at the airport, which airport staff said is a more convenient option than the midtown location available now.
People currently wanting to enroll in the program must go to an office operated by a contractor at 1100 N. University Ave. Its hours of operation listed on the Transportation Security Administration website are from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.
The proposal, which was approved by the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission's lease committee Wednesday and now goes to the full commission next week, is designed to encourage more people to sign up for the program, which the federal agency describes as an expedited screening program aimed at what the agency deems "low-risk travelers."
So far, 2,890 people have enrolled in PreCheck through Little Rock since the program began offering enrollment in 2014, airport spokesman Shane Carter told the committee.
"We would like our passengers to be able to enroll in the service while they're here at the airport," he said. "Airports of our size typically do not qualify for a stand-alone PreCheck enrollment center, which are staffed by TSA contractors.
"However, by working with MorphoTrust, the contractor for the Transportation Security Administration who has the rights to provide PreCheck enrollment services, we've developed a model to allow the airport to offer enrollment services by utilizing our existing badging office with skilled personnel [who] are already performing similar duties for airport operations. MorphoTrust will provide any specialty equipment."
Nationwide, about 1 million have signed up for the program, according to a Transportation Security Administration announcement last month.
PreCheck is available to passengers at Clinton National flying on American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways.
To entice people to use the new sign-up location and generate awareness of the new service, the airport plans to offer a waiver for the $185 sign-up fee to the first 100 people who enroll, under the proposal the committee approved. It will cost the airport $8,000, less the $5 the airport will receive for each successful enrollee.
"We want to encourage people to sign up," said Ron Mathieu, the airport's executive director. "The more people who sign up means the fewer people who will be in the regular lines."
Tom Schueck, a commission member, said he hadn't heard of any recent complaints about long lines at the airport's security checkpoints.
"The lines are doing well," Mathieu responded. "But they can be better."
Bob East, a commission member, said members of his family recently signed up for PreCheck. They had little difficulty filling out the paperwork but the federal contractor's office on University wasn't easy to find.
"Nobody knows where it is," East said. "It's a great idea. I'm glad we're doing it."
The enrollment center at Clinton National will be at a third-floor airport office that also is used to issue badges for airport employees and employees for companies based at the airport. Airport staff members in that office will process PreCheck enrollees using equipment provided by MorphoTrust, the prime Transportation Security Administration contractor, Carter said.
Assuming the commission approves the proposal next week, it might be as long as two months before the PreCheck service at the airport is up and running, although the hope is to have it available as soon as next month, Carter said. The office hours will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
Nationwide, the Transportation Security Administrations said, it has more than 330 application centers, including 31 airports.
"We think this is going to be a great customer service tool for our passengers who are already in the airport and are wanting to enroll," Carter said.
Metro on 04/16/2015