ALPA ____________________________________________________________ ___
The Saturday deadline for transmission of digital photo identification for jumpseating is looming, and airlines will need to request extensions if they are not compliant.
Recent editions of FastRead have reported that the U.S. Transportation Security Administration set a deadline of September 23 (this coming Saturday) for all U.S. air carrier participants in the Cockpit Access Security System (CASS) to be able to display at the gatehouse terminal a digital photo of jumpseat riders for identification purposes.
ALPA and airline industry representatives met with the TSA on August 31 and urged the agency to extend the deadline to April 2007 for those carriers that are unable to comply by Saturday. TSA informed the industry this past Friday that it was unwilling to extend the September 23 deadline and would implement the new system that day as previously mandated.
However, for those carriers that cannot implement the new requirements by September 23, the TSA will consider, on a case-by-case basis, an application to extend the deadline, which would allow the noncompliant carriers to operate under the old system for a "reasonable period" of time. This "reasonable period" will be determined by each carrier's Principal Security Inspector (PSI).
ALPA's First Vice President, Capt. Dennis Dolan, asked the TSA this week to remove some of the uncertainty in a subjective interpretation of "reasonable period" by establishing a new deadline of Jan. 31, 2007, for those airlines incapable of displaying digital photographs by September 23. An extension is essential for some airlines at specific airports because of equipment and software issues that haven't been resolved with airport operators.
TSA has not yet committed to Dolan's request, but the agency has indicated that it will work with the industry to minimize disruptions to the system.
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