'Trusted traveler' ID cards?

By Wolf Blitzer

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Having spent many years of my journalistic career covering the Middle East, I have often flown Israel's national airline, El Al. I am very familiar with the intense security precautions El Al takes on every flight. The airline's security specialists know they are on Israel's front line in the terror war and that Israel's enemies would love to bring down an El Al airliner.

Before boarding an El Al flight, I have been peppered with questions. Why are you flying to Israel? Where will you stay there? Do you have relatives there? Do you have any friends there? What are their names? What are their phone numbers? Have you been to Israel before? How many times? What do you do for a living? The questioning is endless.

When I flew from New Delhi to Lahore, Pakistan on Pakistani Airlines in 2000 I had an experience similar to what I had on El AI. I went through layer upon layer of security precautions, including a final step after I actually walked up the stairs to board the plane. Just before going into the cabin, I endured one final search at the top of the stairs. The Pakistani security screeners were taking no chances. Given their almost always strained relationship with the Indians, they were clearly telling me they didn't necessarily trust Indian security at the New Delhi airport.

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks against the United States, many American aviation security specialists have taken a very close look at the El Al model. They know that many of the precautions taken by El Al will not be easily accepted in the United States where air traffic is so much heavier. If U.S. airlines did what El Al does, American passengers would have to arrive at airports many hours ahead of the scheduled takeoff. It would be a huge mess. Still, some steps are being closely studied and considered.

One that is getting some particularly serious attention is having passengers submit to extensive background checks in order to get what has been called a "trusted traveler" identification card. One aviation expert who loves this El Al concept is Robert Crandall, the former chairman and chief executive officer of American Airlines. After the background checks, he told me, El Al gives the passengers some sort of "biometric" identification that is unique to that passenger -- "a thumb print, an iris print, a voice print, so that that person can be identified absolutely when he or she gets to the airport."

Crandall notes that passengers who have "trusted traveler" status, "can move through the El Al security process much more expeditiously that those who do not. And I think that kind of an approach makes sense in every security system. It certainly makes sense in our aviation security system here."

The former American Airlines chief says that these new ID cards would allow those "trusted travelers" to move more quickly through the security check-in process. That, in turn, would allow "us to focus our security resources on those who are more likely to be a threat. And after all, I think that's what we all want."

There have been some protests that this proposal would be tantamount to creating a national ID card -- something that would violate the personal privacy of the flying public. Not so insists Crandall, who notes that individual passengers would not be required to obtain the cards. "It's strictly a voluntary decision," he says.

"Flying is a discretionary activity," he continues. "You don't have to fly. If you wish to fly and if you wish to enjoy the benefits of moving expeditiously through the airport, then I think we should offer the option: subject yourself to a very intensive security check, and then you can have the benefits of the trusted-traveler program. And if do not wish to do that, you don't have to give up any of those elements of privacy that you choose to hold private to yourself."

My sources tell me many U.S. airlines are, (like Crandall), in love with this El Al concept. That means we probably will be hearing a lot more about it in the coming weeks and months. The debate is just beginning.

Wolf Blitzer

So here's my question... what keeps a person with a clean solid background from going through all the security and checks and becoming a "Trusted Traveler" and then moving about the airport "with ease" with a bomb on their person? Does this really make sense to "trust" people? Everyone is capable of causing destruction. Just because they have never done it before does not tell us that they will never do it in the future!

Okay... I'm off my soap box.