U.S. travelers frustrated with airport security may see a little relief later this year with the launch of a trusted traveler pilot program, said the head of the Transportation Security Administration.

"We're working with airlines, U.S. carriers initially, to say for those who are willing to share information about themselves, what can we gain from that that would help us make informed judgments" about passenger security, TSA Administrator John Pistole told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

"We hope to ... trial that starting this fall in select airports and (with the) airlines," he said, adding that he hoped for significant changes next year. "It's a complex issue and so I want to basically underpromise and overdeliver."

While there have been some attempts at trusted traveler programs in the past, they have never advanced. But with the introduction of full-body scanners and physical patdowns, pressure has built up again for reviving such programs.