Aviation

American Airlines faces a mammoth $2.64 million annual fee to allow its workforce of more than 47,500 pilots and flight attendants to skip past regular TSA airport security screening, as the Department of Homeland Security introduces a new fee as part of the introduction of its ‘Crewmember Access Point’ program.

United Airlines faces a similar annual bill of $2.17 million, and Delta Air Lines will be charged around $1.95 million per year for its aircrew to access the program. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines will end up paying appoximately $1.38 million per year and JetBlue around $456,000.

Since 2011, pilots and flight attendants have been allowed to skip the regular passenger screening lane via a program called ‘Known Crewmember,’ which was set up as a joint initiative between the Air Line Pilots Association and industry trade group Airlines For America (A4A).