Timko, who flies from Boston to Newark every week as part of his internship at the management consulting firm Bain & Co., said he didn’t mind the TSA officer’s questions about his job and his Illinois driver’s license. But he said his tolerance may wear thin if he has to undergo a brief interrogation every time he goes through security.
“It’s going to get old if I have to answer the same questions every week,’’ he said. “That seems like it’s really going to slow things down.’’
The added queries didn’t slow traffic at security checkpoints yesterday afternoon at Logan - the first airport in the country to launch the test program - or appear to prompt a barrage of complaints.
After a two-week training period and 60 days of real-time testing, officials said, they will evaluate the program’s effectiveness and determine whether to make mandatory questioning a permanent fixture at airports across the country.
Until today, Logan’s behavior detection program - which in 2003 was the first to be instituted among 160 airports across the country - consisted of TSA officers questioning only passengers who appeared to be suspicious, such as those wearing a winter coat in summer. The program has come under fire from the American Civil Liberties Union, which has said it increases the likelihood of racial profiling.
People who travel internationally are used to undergoing questioning from customs agents, as are those who have used Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. At that airport, every passenger is interviewed before being allowed to board a plane.
Although most passengers interviewed by the Globe at Logan yesterday said they welcomed the questioning as an additional safety measure, it did cause some apprehension.
Bridget Whitehead, 24, who was flying back to Cincinnati after attending a friend’s wedding at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, couldn’t immediately remember how long she had been in the area.
