NBTA's filing, which focuses on the effects Secure Flight may have on businesses and business travelers, highlights significant concerns with important aspects of the proposed program and provides recommendations to ensure the program's effectiveness and integrity.
'While NBTA believes that a properly implemented Secure Flight program will benefit businesses and travelers throughout the United States and abroad, specific concerns must first be fully satisfied before the program can be completely implemented and operate effectively,' said NBTA Executive Director and COO Bill Connors.
In its filing, NBTA urges DHS to take the following measures:
• Adopt an implementation period of 180 days rather than the current 60-day requirement to allow time for significant changes to existing business practices within the travel industry.
• Reduce the need for international passengers to submit duplicative sets of information in advance of travel to the U.S.
• Allow passengers to make informed decisions about the benefits of submitting voluntary data fields by developing, retaining and distributing information about the varied rates of watchlist hits.
• Improve information security protocols.
• Consider the following recommendations for related air travel security programs:
- Enhance the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) by implementing an effective public relations campaign, reducing processing time for redress complaints, and reducing the frequency of secondary screening.
- Explore mechanisms for last-minute travelers to meet the Electronic Travel Authorization requirement.
- Lay out a vision for the role that technology can or will have in enhancing security in Registered Traveler lanes.
'We are pleased to recognize that since the original Secure Flight testing phase in 2004, some progress has been made in addressing several recommendations made by NBTA in previous comments,' said Connors. 'However, enhancement efforts must continue to ensure the safety of passengers and efficiency of travel, while protecting the security of the United States.'
View a copy of the NBTA filing.
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world's premier business travel organization. U.S.-based NBTA and its regional subsidiaries - NBTA Asia Pacific, NBTA Canada and NBTA Mexico - serve more than 3,000 members in 30 nations around the globe. NBTA has 42 U.S. Chapters with more than 5,000 members. NBTA members are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, who collectively manage and direct more than $170 billion of global business travel expenditures annually. The association provides industry-leading networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. For more information, visit www.nbta.org.
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