This month, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will implement an important change to the federal government approved Known Crew Member (KCM) program. Starting Jan. 13, the KCM program, which expedites airport security screening for flight crew members, will no longer require authorized crew members to be in uniform when passing through KCM access points.
The KCM program was created to verify the identity and employment status of authorized crew members. Since 2012, the program has become the security screening protocol for U.S. airlines in dozens of airports around the country.
KCM grants flight crew members access to alternative security screenings, with the aim of reducing security lines and potential delays for flight crew members, including pilots and flight attendants. However, the KCM program originally required crew members to be in uniform, a burden to many who are traveling in advance of their flights or are deadheading.
Aviation professionals welcome the rule change. For example, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO (AFA), Sara Nelson, praised the change, saying that the KCM policy update provides “a lift to crews’ quality of work-life [and] puts more non-uniformed trained responders — extra ‘eyes, ears and hands’ — past the gate.”
Although authorized crew members can now pass through a KCM security point in civilian clothes, they still must abide by these KCM rules:
- They cannot transport TSA-prohibited items.
- They cannot carry another person’s property through a KCM portal.
- They may be subject to random screening.
The rule change will apply only to crew members employed by carriers that participate in the KCM program. Even so, when you fly this year, your next seatmate could be a pilot or flight attendant traveling incognito.
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