The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has started operational field testing of a new biometric system that is designed to make a program that allows pilots, flight attendants, and other critical airline workers to skip past airport security screening more secure.
By the end of 2026, the current system, which is called ‘Known Crewmember,’ is to be closed down and replaced with a more secure program called ‘Crewmember Access Point’ or CMAP for short, which will be directly managed by the TSA.
The premise of CMAP is, however, the same as KCM. In effect, it allows security-cleared airline workers to bypass the traditional TSA checkpoint without any checks whatsoever.
KCM was launched as a joint initiative between the Air Line Pilots Association and industry trade group Airlines for America in 2011, as a way to speed up the process for crew members to get from curb to gate.
The program wasn’t managed by the TSA, although TSA officers have traditionally managed the seperate KCM access points that allow staffers to bypass normal security checks.
When KCM was first introduced, the TSA had very little involvement in the program, but in recent years, serious concerns have emerged with a small number of crew members abusing their privileges to smuggle drugs, cash, and weapons through the KCM lane.
The TSA initially assumed more “active management” in the program, directing an increasing number of crew members to undergo random checks through the TSA PreCheck line.
Since 2022, however, the TSA has started to look at whether KCM should exist at all, and by last January, it was decided that the program should be sunsetted so that the TSA could take over the program entirely.
That’s not to say that crew members won’t still be able to bypass normal securtity checks on most occasions, but the TSA does want to add an additional layer of security to the system.
This additional layer of security is taking the form of biometric facial comparison technology, which will be used to positively identify eligible crew members.
Biometric cameras will compare the crew member’s facial image with a photo stored on the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Traveler’s Verification System.
From June 22, the system will be tested at Washington National Airport (DCA) and Dulles International Airport (IAD), and from June 26, the system will also be introduced at Las Vegas Harry Reid Airport.
Crew members have been reassured that the system is voluntary; if they choose not to participate, they will have to undergo routine TSA security screening.
Both KCM and CMAP can be used by crew members who are on-duty, as well as off-duty crew members out of uniform. However, both programs cannot be used by off-duty crew members who are departing on an international flight.
In recent years, the TSA has caught a slew of crew members attempting to abuse their KCM privileges:
- In November 2024, an airline flight crew member was cited by police after she was stopped trying to get through the TSA security checkpoint at Washington National Airport with a loaded 9mm handgun in her carry-on bag.
- In October 2022, a flight attendant attempted to smuggle fentanyl that was strapped to her abdomen through a TSA checkpoint at San Diego International Airport.
- In August 2024, four flight attendants pleaded guilty in a New York court to abusing their special TSA privileges to help smuggle more than $8 million in drug money to the Dominican Republic for an international narcotics gang.
