Homeland Security mulling self-service security screening at airports
Air travelers are somewhat used to doing it themselves at the airport, from automated check-in, self-service bag drop and in some cases, biometric boarding.
Now Homeland Security believes similar tech could be utilized to speed up security screening.
DHS officials have started researching options for ‘self-service’ passenger screening.
It published a request for information and believes it could improve customer satisfaction by cutting down wait times at checkpoints.
"Many patrons prefer an experience that they can complete all by themselves, at their own pace The objective would be to create a passenger friendly, intuitive screening process while improving security, accelerating passenger throughput and reducing pat-down rates," the DHS said.
It would likely be initially tested on lower risk TSA PreCheck security lanes.
The department is looking for a process that works like existing screening conducted by TSA agents and ‘must meet or exceed the performance of the walk-through metal detectors that are currently used.’
It would likely entail passengers placing their personal items through an X-ray machine and passing through a body scanner.
They will then be able to remove any items from their person and place them through the x-ray machines.
The system would flag any high-risk items that require close inspection from a TSA officer.
DHS officials are looking for a solution that can ‘detect weapons and organic threat items hidden on passengers without the same level of TSA officer engagement normally present in the screening process.’
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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