If self-service has become familiar to you at groceries and other stores, you may not be surprised that the Transportation Safety Administration is getting ready to try the same idea for airport screening.
Starting with a test next month at Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport, the ‘Screening at Speed’ program will see passengers, initially PreCheck members, to put their bags on a conveyor belt that will scan the bags and allow the passenger into a two-gate screening area. The exit gate will open only when the scanning of bag and passenger is finished; the entry gate can be re-opened to allow a passenger to remove or discard prohibited items.
A TSA news release says that “Like self-ordering kiosks at fast food and sit-down restaurants, self-service screening allows passengers in the Trusted Traveler Program to complete the security screening process on their own. Travelers will use passenger and carry-on screening systems at individual consoles or screening lanes themselves, reducing the number of pat downs and bag inspections.”
