US airline pilots will be allowed to bypass new heightened security screening at US airports, the Transportation Security Administration said on Friday, relenting after a lawsuit and outcry that pilots already undergo rigorous background checks.
Pilots have complained bitterly they should not have to go through new full-body scanners or be subjected to thorough patdowns when they already go through extensive security checks and control the airplane. "Allowing these uniformed pilots, whose identity has been verified, to go through expedited screening at the checkpoint just makes for smart security and an efficient use of our resources," TSA Administrator John Pistole said in a prepared statement.
The TSA, created after the September 11 attacks against the United States in 2001 by al Qaeda militants using hijacked passenger planes, has been under fire since introducing more rigorous screening procedures last month. The extra security, which comes just before a busy travel season over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, followed two plots against the US aviation system in the past year.