Media Brief – November 18, 2010

CONTACT:    Nicole Hayes, +1 703-684-0836 ext. 133, nhayes@nbta.org 
                        Jamie Colunga, +1 212-446-1877, jcolunga@sloanepr.com

A new National Business Travel Association (NBTA) survey of 934 travel professionals revealed a majority of respondents (81%) currently feel they would accept the new TSA security measures for air travel, which include expanded use of full-body screening machines and enhanced pat-down procedures. Slightly more than half of travel professionals (54%) support the new procedures, while less than a third (27%) oppose them. 

“Business travel professionals are adopting a wait-and-see attitude toward these new measures. They are realistic about the threats to our aviation system and understand the TSA’s remit to protect the traveling public.  However, they are also concerned about security measures that may add delays and disruptions to an already challenging travel security process,” said NBTA Executive Director Mike McCormick.  

“This is why NBTA supports the new Secure Flight requirements and Global Entry program, which help to narrow the window of threats.  We also urge TSA to build on to these current layers of protection by reinstating a domestic registered traveler program with a security component.  Taken together, these programs can allow TSA to focus on possible threats and efficiently facilitate travel.”

Survey Findings:

• 81% of travel professionals accept the new TSA security procedures
• 54% of travel professionals support the new TSA security procedures; 27% oppose the procedures; 19% neither support nor oppose them.
• 67% of travel professionals  feel about as safe as they did flying under the new TSA security measures as they did a month ago.  29% feel safer than they did a month ago. 
• 71% of travel professionals said they would be willing to pay for and undergo a one-time, in-depth security check that would enable them to pass through airport security more quickly and efficiently.  

The online survey of travel professionals in the U.S. was conducted on November 17, 2010. 

The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates – NBTA Australia / New Zealand, the Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA Canada, NBTA Europe, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA – serve a network of more than 17,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 5,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 13 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit www.nbta.org