Four airlines testing new security program

If you see a short security line at five U.S. airports in coming weeks, it’s probably not for you — unless you’re one of 10,000 extremely frequent fliers participating in a “Registered Traveler” test.

Four airlines are contacting select customers and inviting them to join the test by agreeing to consent to a background check and to provide the federal Transportation Security Agency with a birth date, phone number, address and a “biometric identifier,” such as a fingerprint or iris scan.

In exchange, those travelers will be able to avoid the masses and pass through a dedicated security checkpoint during the 90-day tests.

The test begins at Boston’s Logan International on Aug. 1 and at Washington’s Reagan National airport on Aug. 17. American Airlines is in charge of identifying test subjects in these two cities and is currently sending invitations to customers who fly out of those airports at least two times a week.

Northwest customers who fly that airline at least 75,000 miles a year are being recruited for the test in Minneapolis, which begins this month. United is soliciting frequent fliers for a fast lane in Los Angeles, and Continental is doing the same in Houston.

Fliers participating in a test in one city won’t be able to use the dedicated lines in the other cities because the tests all differ somewhat, said TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser.

If the tests prove the merit of the idea, the program could be expanded within months, as opposed to weeks or years, said Kayser. Background checks are free to the test takers, but if the program is extended to the general public, travelers will have to pay an as yet undetermined amount.