Travelers who come across a series of four consecutive S's on their flight boarding passes and may be curious to know what they mean, get to know before long. And should you be one of those passengers, hopefully you are not pressed for time.
Since its creation in 2010, the Transportation Security Administration's Secure Flight program has evolved in terms of the precautions it takes to ensure the safety of travelers and airline personnel. The latest measure manifests itself by an "SSSS" marking printed on boarding passes. One who bears the code on their pass will be committed to an additional 10 to 30 minutes of screening. “Secondary Security Screening Selection,” the S's stand for, and they may require extra body scans and pat downs, thorough searches through bags, and questions on one's travel.
An SSSS on a boarding pass can mean one of a few things. It could mean the traveler's name appears on an FBI counterterrorism list, or it could mean a passenger has booked a last-minute flight and is thus deemed high-risk. It may also mean nothing at all, as a certain percentage of people are randomly assigned the four letters.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
