Wingmate Pass allows non-traveling companions past TSA [Video]

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The PHL Wingmate Pass program, which allows non-travelers to go past Philadelphia International Airport security checkpoints to be with family and friends before they depart, has been around since the end of the last year. Airport officials say they want to see more people participating.

Each day, PHL makes 100 Wingmate Passes available for the public, but the airport’s director of marketing and branding, Megan O’Connell, says only a fraction of them are claimed.

“We usually get somewhere between 20 and 50 passes a day at this point in time,” she said.

Getting a Wingmate Pass is a simple procedure, and it’s free. Let’s say you want to accompany a relative to the gate and wait with them until their plane arrives — or you’re picking someone up, and you want to meet them right when they get off the plane. About a week ahead of time, you sign up on the airport’s website…