TSA expands biometric identity checks to airline crews Airline pilots, flight attendants, and other eligible crew members are beginning to encounter a materially different way of entering airport sterile areas as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) replaces Known Crewmember (KCM) with a new facial comparison program called Crewmember Access Point (CMAP). The change is more than a technology upgrade. Known Crewmember was created in 2011 as an industry operated system that allowed vetted crewmembers to present an airline ID and KCM barcode at designated access points. Until now it had been a joint initiative between the Air Line Pilots Association and Airlines for America. Under CMAP, TSA will assume program administration, use data already supplied by carriers through federal crew listing programs, and photograph crew members at access points for comparison against an image held in federal databases. TSA says the transition began June 22 and is scheduled to conclude at airport locations by September 30, although KCM is not expected to formally sunset until the end of this year. The first locations were Washington Reagan, Washington Dulles, and Las Vegas. A second wave began the week of July 5 at airports including San Diego, Honolulu, Salt Lake City, Austin, and Phoenix, with 30 additional airports scheduled for later July conversion dates. Those dates remain subject to change. CMAP remains voluntary in a formal sense. Crew members must affirmatively consent before their airlines add them to the program, and those who decline may use regular passenger screening to reach the sterile area. For crew members, the practical choice is between consenting to facial comparison or losing access to the separate expedited lane that KCM provided. A failed biometric match or a random selection for additional screening sends the crewmember to a passenger checkpoint. The program relies on data that airlines