Balancing Security, Retail Sales and Access to Gates at the Pittsburgh Airport

FINDLAY TWP. -- Before June 1, when the summer travel season will descend on Pittsburgh International Airport, the Transportation Security Administration director here is hoping to already have the nontraveling public heading to the Airmall.

In a press conference Monday, Robert Blose Jr., TSA director in Pittsburgh, said he and airport officials last had a meeting in March with federal officials and hoped to have a decision on whether people without tickets could pass through security and shop in the stores of the airport mall.

The plan submitted, he said, did not have specific hours, and he and the airport could decide to shut down the program if security risks were great or if the security checkpoint lines were swamped with travelers.

The change would allow people to meet arriving travelers at the gate or to see off departing passengers, said Blose, who has been working on the request for 2 1/2 years.

These people would be subject to security checkpoint measures, like travelers.

They would need to bring a photo identification, which would be electronically scanned. If approved, they would receive a three-part ticket that would allow the airport and the TSA to track how many people participate and how much they spend. During a 120-day pilot program, the Pittsburgh TSA office would need to prepare weekly updates on the workings of the program, Blose said.

Other airports are watching and waiting to see the results from the Pittsburgh program if it is approved, Blose said.

Just last week, the Allegheny County Airport Authority revised the terms of its lease with the managers of the Airmall because of declining sales.