Montana Airport Adds Support for TSA PreCheck Program

Montana’s Helena Regional Airport (HLN) is the latest airport to offer support for the Transportation Security Administration’s TSA PreCheck program. Full prescreening will be available to eligible passengers during Helena’s peak travel hours from 4:30-7:30 a.m., with additional hours between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. if there are enough staff and passengers.

“TSA is pleased to partner with HLN to bring the full TSA PreCheck screening experience to travelers,” said Dan Fevold, the TSA’s Federal Security Director for Montana. “HLN now joins more than 200 airports nationwide that offer this screening experience to its customers.”

The TSA PreCheck program allows travelers to register their fingerprint and their personal information in advance to pass through airport security without taking off their shoes or unloading large electronics and travel-sized liquids from their carry-on bags, lowering the wait time to less than five minutes for most PreCheck passengers. Helena passengers will be able to keep their shoes on, but will need to remove laptops and liquids during off-peak hours.

For those interested, the TSA is currently hosting a PreCheck enrollment center at the Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport in Belgrade, Montana. The center will be open on weekdays until June 28th. According to the TSA, 600 passengers registered at a similar pop-up center at HLN in May.

The TSA has been making a strong effort to register more travelers with the PreCheck program despite some privacy concerns about the agency’s use of biometrics. The TSA has previously opened pop-up enrollment centers in various locations across the country.

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June 24, 2019 – by Eric Weiss