Starting next week you will not need a boarding pass to access the secure gate areas at Pittsburgh International Airport. I think that is a great thing.
When I was young, flying was a big deal in my house. We took one big trip each summer and going to the airport was a big ordeal. I remember two trips in particular. The first was Chicago in 2000. Not only do I remember the hot breakfast on the 767-200 in coach class from Chicago to Denver and the 727 from Denver to Burbank, but that my uncle was waiting on the tarmac to pick us up when we landed (BUR has no jet bridges, just air stairs and a door to the terminal).
We all laughed because we expected nothing less. That’s just the way things were. Back then it was simple: just proceed though security, no boarding pass necessary.
The following year we took a family trip to DC. I remember my dear grandmother, 104 at the time, accompanied us to the gate to hug and kiss us goodbye. I was very close to my grandmother before she passed away at age 108. It seemed almost natural that she would accompany us to the airport.
One month later, 9/11 hit and everything related to commercial air travel changed. And while certainly I understand why, I love the compromise that Pittsburgh Airport has struck.
Should you wish to access the secure side of the airport, you need to check-in at a special counter, ensure your name is not on the No Fly List, and are issued a boarding pass.
Currently, this service will only be available Monday thru Friday 9am to 5pm but the airport is looking to expand it to nights and weekends.
This does mean that our “09/11 security fee” is subsidizing friends and family members who are accessing the secure side, but I am okay with that. I think making airports more hospitable — finally returning them to “normalcy” — is long overdue.
CONCLUSION
Australia does this for domestic flights (no IDs or boarding pass required) and has not run in any issues. For the small risk of increased security lines we make airports more inviting to family and friends and take away the stigma of fear which still lingers over a decade after 09/11.
(H/T View from the Wing)
To what extent do you see this as a commercially driven decision (more people airside = more retail spend)?
That must be part of it, especially at PIT.
I agree that this is a great thing for PIT to do. How they managed to sway the TSA is beyond me. They’ve done a special “Airport Shopping Day” for the public the last 3 years and it’s insanely popular. Now if only they could find a way to add PreCheck…
There is no added is security in requiring people to have a boarding pass to go through security. That is a joke. All one needs to do is buy a refundable ticket, go through security, and cancel the airfare. The idea that the No Fly List adds meaningful security is outrageous. At one point, the No Fly List had well over 1 million names on it, including the President of Bolivia. Obviously, there are not 1 million terrorists running around that DHS has identified. It’s little more than security theater. Good for PIT for recognizing that the Emperor Has No Clothes.
Hmmm, I suddenly can’t take the (one-way) trip but my friend or relative wants to. We both go through Security and I hand him or her the boarding pass. If photo ID is not checked again at the gate, an easy scam has taken place. Is this really necessary – to pile on more time-wasting moves, security breaches and criminal activity ?
Before they checked IDs, this was in fact commonplace. People bought and resold tickets, which mostly benefited customers by creating a secondary market for airline tickets. The airlines are the primary beneficiaries of checking ID against a boarding pass because they can control all supply. How exactly allowing passengers to sell their tickets at a price they agree on is a “scam” is beyond me.
Again, you do not need any plan to actually fly on an airplane to get through security, just purchase a ticket (or use one of the apps that generates fake QR codes, they have no system for actually checking if your electronic boarding pass is valid) so your point is illogical. Checking IDs is security theater: it does not make anyone any safer because it’s mostly for show.
Sorry, I don’t think I could have made it simpler…..didn’t say anything about selling or marketing after security. I’m talking about the ease of which someone could hand a friend or relative their ticket and the other person gets on board (because I don’t see gate agents checking photo ID at the gate on domestic flights). Indeed they will have put one over on the airline (one definition of scamming).
What a horrible idea. I guess no consideration was given to the mess this will create…….You do realize that in some cultures one person is traveling but they bring along ten other family members and friends to see them off? Do you want to be standing on that line waiting for all eleven to go through while they fumble with ID and have to be told multiple times to remove things from pockets, etc. ?
Great for the store and restaurant vendors past security. Horrible for airline gate staff who will now have to answer the questions, comments, complaints of relatives and friends why grandpa didn’t get the “best” seat or arguments and debates about carry-on luggage. Then everyone wonders why airline staff are annoyed or surly. Oh well, as long as the vendors are making more money, that’s all that counts. Stop making airports into Shopping Malls !!!
I don’t understand your post. You say in the title that “Boarding Pass No Longer Required” but in the body of the post state that “you need to check-in at a special counter, ensure your name is not on the No Fly List, and are issued a boarding pass.”
You’re issued a “boarding pass” in quotations. A slip of paper from the airport. Not an airline boarding pass.
I agree Andy, the title contradicts itself, either a “boarding pass” is required or it is not. When I saw the title I assumed you simply went through security, regardless of who you are. If security is truly “security” , implying complete security, there is no risk. Since it is not, then there are alternative motives and functions to the whole “security” presentation. Requiring someone to “register for a pass” to enter the terminal is the same, an alterior function sold as ” security”.