A new National Business Travel Association (NBTA) survey of 934 travel professionals revealed a majority of respondents (81 percent) currently feel they would accept the new TSA security measures for air travel. This includes expanded use of full-body screening machines and enhanced pat-down procedures.
Slightly more than half of travel professionals (54 percent) support the new procedures, while less than a third (27 percent) oppose them, the NBTA reports.
“Business travel professionals are adopting a wait-and-see attitude toward these new measures,” said NBTA Executive Director Mike McCormick. “They are realistic about the threats to our aviation system and understand the TSA’s remit to protect the traveling public. However, they are also concerned about security measures that may add delays and disruptions to an already challenging travel security process. This is why NBTA supports the new Secure Flight requirements and Global Entry program which help to narrow the window of threats. We also urge TSA to build on to these current layers of protection by reinstating a domestic registered traveler program with a security component. Taken together, these programs can allow TSA to focus on possible threats and efficiently facilitate travel.”
Survey findings include:
· 81 percent of travel professionals accept the new TSA security procedures
· 54 percent of travel professionals support the new TSA security procedures; 27% oppose the procedures; 19% neither support nor oppose them.
· 67 percent of travel professionals feel about as safe as they did flying under the new TSA security measures as they did a month ago. 29% feel safer than they did a month ago.
· 71 percent of travel professionals said they would be willing to pay for and undergo a one-time, in-depth security check that would enable them to pass through airport security more quickly and efficiently.
The online survey of travel professionals in the U.S. was conducted on November 17, 2010. Visit www.nbta.org.