The Transportation Security Administration has rolled out a new program that lets some non-passengers pass through security checkpoints to meet or send off loved ones at the gate, reviving a practice that largely disappeared after the September 11 attacks.
The program, called Gateside by TSA PreCheck, allows eligible TSA PreCheck members to enter the secure area of participating airports to greet or see off friends and family, connect during a layover, or visit restaurants and shops inside the terminal.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin discussed the program in a recent appearance on Fox News’ Fox and Friends, framing it as an extension of the agency’s existing known-traveler vetting process rather than a loosening of security standards.
“We came up with a program that doesn’t compromise security at all – it’s just a part of the known passenger process. We hope that it will help the passenger experience,” Mullin said.
Mullin said the idea grew out of TSA’s role as what he called “the most forward-facing government agency in the country,” one that processes roughly 2.4 million passengers a day. He pointed to personal experience with the old rules, recalling that he and his wife had to seek special permission to walk their children to the gate when they were young.
“It’s not just kids, it’s also adults, it’s our wives, it’s our parents, elderly parents, or our grandparents that we want to pick up at the gate,” Mullin said. “What about veterans that are coming back, that their loved ones want to meet them at the gate?”
Mullin added that TSA has faced criticism over the years and that officials are looking for ways to improve the passenger experience without weakening screening.
Where it’s available now
Gateside is currently active at 13 airports:
- Los Angeles International Airport
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
- Harry Reid International Airport (Las Vegas)
- San Diego International Airport
- Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport
- John Glenn Columbus International Airport
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
- Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport
- Indianapolis International Airport
- Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (Little Rock)
- Will Rogers International Airport (Oklahoma City)
- Eppley Airfield (Omaha)
- Salt Lake City International Airport
Access is tied to TSA PreCheck enrollment, meaning participants must already be part of the agency’s vetted traveler program before they can use Gateside to accompany or meet someone at a gate.
Before 2001, members of the public could generally pass through security without a boarding pass, a practice that ended as airports tightened access following the September 11 attacks. In the years since, exceptions have been made mainly for escorting young children or elderly and disabled travelers, but the broader ability to meet arriving or departing passengers at the gate had been eliminated for most travelers until now.
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