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PreCheck application center comes to Syracuse Airport

Ellen Abbott
/
WRVO News File Photo

Hancock International Airport has become the first airport in upstate New York to have a TSA PreCheck application center on site. That means airline passengers can apply at the airport for the program that lets them glide through the TSA security checks more quickly, and without some of the hassles flyers have become used to. 

At the modern looking booth at the center of Hancock, central New Yorkers are already lining up to get the perk.

Syracuse Airport travelers say they anticipate being part of PreCheck will help ease air travel, particularly on flights to popular destinations, like Florida.

“It just saves time.  I mean I’m traveling next week to New Orleans for Thanksgiving.  And I figure during holiday time, I might save up to an hour or so,” said Chris Costard from Liverpool.

The PreCheck process requires an in-person application, because it includes fingerprinting for an FBI background check. Hancock Airport manager Christina Callahan says that’s one reason this airport location is such a big deal.

"Prior to today, anyone interested in enrolling in PreCheck, would have to have done it on the road while at a connection at another at an airport, or travel to Oswego, so we think this is a great convenience of the region,” she said.

TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says the program helps both travelers and the security conscious agency.

“For the passenger it’s convenient.  For the TSA, it’s an increase and enhancement in security, because it lets us focus more on the passengers we know less about,” said Farbstein.

Hancock is the smallest of the 35 airports nationwide to offer a PreCheck application center.

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.