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TSA Pre-Screening Coming To CIRA

Security checkpoint at airport with two travelers in line.
Colleen Reynolds
/
WGLT
Security at the Central Illinois Regional Airport where lines are busiest before noon when seven flights depart.

If you're planning your summer vacation, you might want to make a stop next month at the Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA). The airport is launching a pop-up enrollment center for the government's TSA Pre-Check pre-screening security program, which is now available at 180 airports across the country.

The five-year, $85 membership allows air travelers to speed through security without having to remove shoes, belts, laptops, and clear bags holding liquids. CIRA Spokeswoman Fran Strebing says the temporary enrollment center will be housed in a second floor conference room at the airport in Bloomington from May 15-19 with the possibility of more days added if there is enough demand.  

A Pre-Check Lane Coming SoonFlyer with travelers at an airport dressed for business

Flyer with travelers at an airport dressed for business
Credit Courtesy of the Central Illinois Regional Airport
Here is the flyer promoting the dates for the TSA Pre-Check pop-up enrollment center.

The pop-up center could be busy because the closest TSA Pre-Check registration center is in an old milk warehouse near the riverfront in Peoria. Strebing hopes the pilot shows enough demand for a permanent enrollment center. In the meantime, she's also thrilled the TSA has agreed to install a pre-check lane at CIRA by June 1.

"We did have some of our frequent travelers requesting, 'When can we get our own, dedicated pre-check lines?'"

Strebing said it's a win for the airport and the more than 193,000 travelers who took flights from CIRA last year.

"We're excited because it helps TSA process when we have large Allegiant flights. It just helps everyone get through the process, " she said.

Allegiant recently joined CIRA's two other carriers, American and Delta Airlines, in allowing passengers to be part of the expedited screening program.

"The airlines each had to participate. Allegiant just in the last year began to participate so that's another reason why it's justifiable to the TSA to bring the lane here," according to Strebing.

That, and the TSA also knows how many travelers using CIRA were already TSA Pre-Check passengers—information she says the airport authority board can't access.

The temporary TSA enrollment center at CIRA will not accommodate international travelers who want to sign up for Global Entry, which is a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol program that includes TSA Pre-Check as part of its $100, five-year enrollment fee.

Colleen has spent most of her adult life working the streets and beats of Bloomington-Normal for WJBC-AM where she won numerous reporting awards for hard news, feature writing, and breaking news coverage.
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