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You're about to get the chance to make a last-ditch romantic appeal as your loved one tries to fly away forever. TSA is poised to bring back something that disappeared from American airports after 9/11: letting people without plane tickets through security and to the gates.
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The new program, called Gateside by TSA PreCheck, is launching at 13 airports across the U.S., including Los Angeles International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City International Airport. The agency says it plans to expand the program to additional airports in the coming months.
What is Gateside by TSA PreCheck?
This isn't a free-for-all invitation to wander into the terminal, of course. The program will be available to eligible TSA PreCheck members and other trusted travelers with a Known Traveler Number. Visitors must apply online between one and three days before their planned airport visit and receive approval before heading to the airport.
Once approved, you'll enter through the TSA PreCheck lane and show an acceptable ID. Your gate pass is valid for one calendar day, and you can re-enter on that day if you leave.
The idea is a throwback to the days when airport security didn't necessarily mean saying goodbye to your loved one at the curb. Before the September 11 attacks, friends and family members could generally accompany travelers all the way to the gate. The attacks led to sweeping changes in airport security and eventually the creation of the TSA, making unrestricted gate access for non-ticketed visitors a thing of the past.
Now the agency is cautiously bringing some of that experience back.
Is Gateside by TSA PreCheck a good thing?
TSA says the program is designed to make it easier for trusted travelers to welcome arriving passengers, say goodbye to friends and family, meet people during layovers and enjoy restaurants and shopping in secure areas of airports.
Some airports have already experimented with similar programs. Pittsburgh International Airport has offered its myPITpass program, while Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has allowed limited numbers of non-ticketed visitors through security. Philadelphia and Kansas City airports have also offered versions of gate-access programs.
For everyone else, however, the airport goodbye remains a pre-security affair. And considering how much Americans complain about airport security, willingly going through it when you're not even catching a flight may sound a little unhinged. Then again, there are worse ways to spend a Tuesday than meeting someone at the gate and pretending airport travel is still glamorous. Until someone takes off their shoes, that is.
Gateside by TSA PreCheck airports list:
- Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) in Arizona
- John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) in Ohio
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in Texas
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) in Michigan
- Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT) in Kansas
- Indianapolis International Airport (IND) in Indiana
- Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Nevada
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California
- Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (LIT) in Arkansas
- Will Rogers International Airport (OKC) in Oklahoma
- Eppley Airfield (OMA) in Nebraska
- San Diego International Airport (SAN) in California
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) in Utah