On Thursday, Sunwing Airlines announced it has become the latest Canadian leisure carrier to be awarded entry into the Transportation Security Administration's expedited screening program, TSA PreCheck. Air Canada became the first Canadian carrier (and first international carrier overall) to join TSA PreCheck in April 2014.

Travelers approved under the TSA PreCheck program use dedicated screening lanes at 180 airports in the United States and are not required to remove shoes, laptops, 3-1-1 liquids, belts or light jackets.

TSA reports indicated that 97 percent of TSA PreCheck program members made it through the expedited screening lane in less than five minutes in the month of December. The program now has 30 airline partners.

For Sunwing passengers who are members of programs such as Global Entry or NEXUS, they are already eligible to participate in the TSA PreCheck program when they are departing from approved airports. Passengers present their Global Entry or NEXUS cards at check-in and are provided with a boarding card denoting their acceptance.

Sunwing is also in the process of upgrading its booking portal to allow customers to enter their details ahead of their arrival at the airport to further expedite the process.

“Delivering an excellent customer experience is of paramount importance to us, and we are extremely pleased to be awarded entry into this program,” Sunwing Airlines president Mark Williams said in a statement. “We look forward to working with TSA in continuing to improve travelers’ experience in processing through security, while still maintaining their utmost safety.”

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