For Airlines, The Money Is Overseas

"The international routes are definitely offsetting the weakness in domestic routes," he said.

Bob Cortelyou, vice president of scheduling for Continental Airlines, said increased demand prompted the carrier to add flights to Paris, Rome and Amsterdam this summer. The airline also reinstated its Newark-to Hong Kong service, which it eliminated last summer.

Registered Traveler at National: Last week, American Airlines contacted more than 2,000 of its Washington area frequent fliers who use Reagan National Airport at least once a week, looking for people willing to try the registered traveler program that begins at the airport later this month.

The registered traveler program allows frequent fliers a quicker pass through security using a dedicated line and eliminates the chances that they will be picked for random security searches. American is teaming with the federal government to find Washington volunteers for the 90-day trial program, which began last month at Los Angeles International Airport.

The Transportation Security Administration will determine which passengers are selected. Travelers who sign up will find out if they're picked for the program within eight days. Interested travelers will have to undergo "security assessment" background checks, which include checking their names against government terrorist lists and looking for outstanding warrants, said TSA spokeswoman Amy Von Walter. Before they can enroll, they must submit to fingerprinting and a scan of their irises, and provide two forms of government-issued identification as well as their birth date and address.

Some of Washington's most frequent fliers, of course, are members of Congress, so American spokesman Tim Wagner said there's a good chance that some lawmakers might be asked to participate in the tryout. Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.) has already signed up in Minneapolis, said his spokesman, Jim Berard.

Many Washington area frequent fliers who have become frustrated with the long security lines and arriving at the airport 90 minutes before their flights said they plan to sign up if asked. They say giving the government their personal information is worth the ease of passing through security.

Lyndon Richardson flies about three times a month as a compliance officer for Capital One. Richardson said he had to go through similar background checks for his job.

"For those of us who have nothing to hide, this is a minor inconvenience," Richardson said. "Anything that can get us through security quicker is worth it."

Dennis Thorseth of Crofton said he'd even consider giving "blood samples or DNA" to have a separate security line.

But Gerald Mann of Alexandria said that before he gives up personal information, he wants an "ironclad" assurance from the airlines and the TSA that he would be able to skip the security lines and the X-ray machines and would no longer have to remove his shoes.

That's not how it's going to work, though. Registered travelers still have to pass through security, said the TSA's Von Walter. It's just that they will have a designated line.

While Von Walter insists that the information will be used only for airline security, some travelers remain skeptical.

"What a lot of people don't realize is that information could be used for anything the government wants to use it for," said Toni Ballentine, a marketing director for OAG Worldwide, a global flight schedule database company in Downers Grove, Ill. "I'd never be willing to give up what little privacy I have left, least of all to the U.S. government."

Question of the Week: Last weekend, an American Airlines flight crew prevented two passengers from boarding a flight because a crew member considered a T-shirt worn by one of them obscene. BizClass wants to know, do you believe that a traveler's attire, or personal hygiene issues, should be factors in whether the passenger is permitted on a flight? Please send your comments, along with your name and a daytime number, to alexanderk@washpost.com.