Washington ( CNN ) -- The Transportation Security Administration is upgrading security clearances for 10,000 of its airport personnel , giving them access to `` secret '' intelligence to help them better detect threats and stop terrorists , the agency said Friday . To date , the agency has granted access to secret-level classified information to 744 front-line supervisors , managers and behavior-detection officers . It now hopes to be able to give that clearance to all 10,000 supervisory personnel in the next two years , it said . The change does not involve airport screeners , the people responsible for inspecting people and luggage at airport checkpoints . `` It 's a natural progression , '' TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne said . `` It 's the next step in professionalizing our work force . What this will do is give them a leg up and a little more detail than what they 're getting in the [ current ] briefing . '' The change will empower the employees and make sure they have up-to-date and accurate information about intelligence threats , she said . The majority of the agency 's headquarters managers already have secret- or higher-level clearances for classified information . James Carafano , a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation , said it is a good idea to increase the number of aviation security officials with access to intelligence . The move could decrease the chance that information will be leaked because employees who are given clearance are trained to treat the information appropriately , he said . Officers also must undergo additional background checks before receiving the upgraded status , the agency said . The Transportation Security Administration said personnel granted security clearances are educated about their responsibility to protect classified information , sign a non-disclosure agreement and take annual refresher training . Under the federal government 's system of classifying information , `` secret '' clearance is above `` restricted '' and `` confidential '' but below `` top secret . '' Randall Larsen , director of the Institute for Homeland Security , was enthusiastic about the expanded base of people with access to `` secret '' intelligence , saying it is particularly needed by behavior detection officers , who look for travelers exhibiting unusual behavior . `` Just think , if we had pulled that Christmas bomber aside and spoken to him for just a few minutes , he would have never gotten on that plane , '' Larsen said . But support for the move is n't universal . `` Our members are screaming because the problem is , as it always has been , that [ airline pilots ] are being left behind , '' said David Mackett , president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance . `` I 'd much rather have the critical information get to the flight crews '' and flight attendants , he said . Mackett said airport security personnel `` see passengers for several seconds , and yet they 're not sharing [ information ] with air crews who see them for several hours . '' He also said the TSA has `` a very high turnover rate '' compared with that of flight crews , so sensitive information will migrate away from the government . Mike Karn , security chairman for the Coalition of Airline Pilots Association , agreed that flight crews should receive `` secret '' information , saying terrorists have proved that they can still get on aircraft . `` You have to strengthen them all the way up to that last line of defense , '' Karn said .
He says access to ` ` secret '' information will help them better understand security . Change does not apply to airport security measures . New intelligence will be above ` ` confidential '' but below ` ` top secret ''