For many travelers, goodbyes end at the airport security checkpoint. A new TSA program is bringing back the option to walk some friends and family all the way to the gate for goodbyes or reunions alike.
Salt Lake City International Airport is among the first airports participating in this initiative, allowing approved visitors without plane tickets to pass through security for reunions, send-offs and even visits with friends during layovers.
On Sept. 3, ABC4 detailed the new Gateside by TSA PreCheck program, which is initially available at 13 U.S. airports.
It is a limited revival of an airport experience that largely disappeared after security procedures tightened following the attacks on Sept. 11 . It is not without procedures of its own to assure security; visitors still need advance approval and must go through TSA screening before entering the secure side of the terminal.
A Boarding Pass Is No Longer the Only Way Through Security
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Gateside is available to eligible people who already receive TSA PreCheck benefits or otherwise have a qualifying Known Traveler Number. The pass itself is free.
According to TSA, visitors should apply 1 to 3 days before their planned airport trip. Applicants should also be aware: approval is not guaranteed, because participating airports can limit the number of passes available each day or during particularly busy periods.
Visitors who are approved must then bring acceptable identification and use a TSA PreCheck screening lane. The authorization is valid for one calendar day only, and children can be added to an approved adult’s registration.
Once through security, visitors can accompany someone to a departing flight, greet arriving friends or family at the gate, meet with someone passing through on a layover, or visit restaurants and shops beyond the checkpoint. A Gateside pass does not function as a plane ticket.
Salt Lake City Could Be an Especially Interesting Test
The Gateside initiative may be particularly noticeable in Salt Lake City, where large airport reunions are already something of a local tradition. KSL reports that the airport’s greeting room is commonly used by families welcoming home missionaries returning from service with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Those gatherings were even something of a deciding factor when the new airport was designed. Salt Lake City International Airport maintains a dedicated greeting room for people meeting arriving passengers; under Gateside, eligible visitors now have the option to meet travelers farther inside the terminal instead.
Salt Lake City is one of 13 airports currently offering Gateside, alongside Mesa Gateway, John Glenn Columbus International, Dallas Fort Worth International, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National, Indianapolis International, Harry Reid International in Las Vegas, Los Angeles International, Bill and Hillary Clinton National in Little Rock, Will Rogers International in Oklahoma City, Eppley Airfield in Omaha and San Diego International. KPCW reported Sept. 3 that TSA plans to expand the program to additional airports.
For travelers who remember when families routinely walked one another to the gate, the idea may feel strangely familiar. This time, though, the difference is that access comes with advance vetting, careful scheduling, limited daily availability, and the same security screening required of the travelers actually getting on the plane.