Clearinghouse Facilitates Aviation Worker Background Checks

The Transportation Security Clearinghouse (TSC), the largest civilian clearinghouse in the United States, recently surpassed the three million mark for facilitating biometrically based background checks for aviation workers. The TSC has also successfully handled more than 1.6 million biographical background...

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The Transportation Security Clearinghouse (TSC), the largest civilian clearinghouse in the United States, recently surpassed the three million mark for facilitating biometrically based background checks for aviation workers.

The TSC has also successfully handled more than 1.6 million biographical background checks since its launch in late 2001.

The TSC is a non-profit arm of the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and operates in cooperation with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to ensure criminal history record checks (CHRCs), such as FBI background vetting checks, are accomplished for aviation workers who require access to the secure areas of airports.

"The Transportation Security Clearinghouse has proven itself remarkably effective in ensuring that workers at the nation's airports undergo necessary background checks in a manner that avoids unnecessary disruptions to critical airport operations, all while keeping costs to an absolute minimum," AAAE President Charles Barclay said.

"The TSC has enabled employers at airports to meet their complex employment needs and has ensured that the vigorous and sometimes shifting background check standards established by the federal government can quickly be met for the betterment of airport security," added Barclay

Operating since November 2001, the TSC has:

• Reduced the average response for aviation worker background checks from 52 days to four hours, with many checks occurring in a matter of minutes.
• Reduced the cost per record for the aviation community twice since its inception.
• Implemented the first high-speed, secure network for fingerprint transmissions to the TSA.
• Successfully achieved an industry-low error rate for fingerprint transmissions to the FBI of two percent through value-added processing prior to submission.

The TSA requires CHRCs for airport employees who access security-sensitive areas of airports, including the secure areas of terminals and the Security Identification Display Area (SIDAs). Biographic checks are required for everyone who requires an airport-issued ID badge at a commercial-service (Part 139) airport.

AAAE launched the TSC to give airports an efficient, cost-effective way to comply with expanding background-check requirements after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Airport badging offices collect biometric and biographical information from workers. The data is submitted to the TSC via secure networks established by the clearinghouse. Each data record undergoes a quality check to ensure accuracy and integrity. The TSC then transmits the records to the appropriate government agencies, which conduct the background checks.

The TSC's role extends beyond acting as the central point for data submission and forwarding the records to the government. The clearinghouse also serves as the central location for airports to retrieve background-check results. On biographic checks, for example, a worker's status is communicated via a secure Web site established and maintained by the TSC.

In addition to the aviation worker vetting program, the TSC, in partnership with TSA, also supports background record checks for other key programs, including:

• Background checks and application elements for federal Transportation Security Officer screener candidates
• General aviation crews operating aircraft with a maximum certificated take-off weight (MTOW) of 12,500 lbs. or more;
• General aviation crews and armed security officers flying into Reagan Washington National Airport;
• Commercial charter pilots;
• Foreign applicants under the Alien Flight School Program
• and, Contract screeners at private screener airports.

The TSC also operates an interoperable information management system of travelers' biometric data - the Central Information Management System (CIMS). The CIMS is necessary to ensure interoperability, security and efficiency in the Registered Traveler (RT) program. The CIMS is responsible for several key functions, such as processing all records, interfacing with the TSA for background checks, ensuring a chain of trust from vetted enrollments and issued credentials, and sending alerts to all service providers regarding revoked credentials.