Unruly US passengers may lose TSA PreCheck privileges

Airline passengers who misbehave on U.S. flights could lose their streamlined airport screening privileges from the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program under a new effort to curb a surge of incidents this year. 

The Federal Aviation Administration will share information with the TSA on passengers who are facing civil fines for striking flight attendants and other infractions, the FAA said in a press release Tuesday. 

The FAA has logged 5,664 reports of unruly passengers through Dec. 15 this year in an unprecedented wave of misbehavior on aircraft during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to agency. It has initiated 1,030 investigations so far this year, dwarfing the previous high of 310 in 2004.

“TSA has zero tolerance for the unruly behaviors, especially those involving physical assault occurring aboard aircraft,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in the release.

The FAA will share information on the people against whom it has lodged civil cases and TSA “may remove the passenger from TSA PreCheck screening eligibility,” the FAA said in the release. 

After passing a background check, passengers in PreCheck are eligible for less rigorous screening and generally shorter security lines.