Two of America's biggest airlines and the Transportation Safety Administration are trying out new tools to speed up checking-in at the airport. The tests involve faster matching of travelers with documents, and faster screening of carry-on bags.
At Minneapolis/St. Paul, Delta has installed 4 new self-service kiosks in the bag-drop area. The kiosk can 'view' the passenger, match it to the image on the passport that's been inserted, and give the OK to print the tags and leave the bag. Delta spent $600,000 on the project. So far, it's only being tested at bag drop, with human checking at the security line. Delta believes it can double the through-put at the kiosks. Passengers without passports will still need to use the usual input methods.
Up a bit closer to the plane, American's TSA-approved test involves using CT scanners to make 3-D images of luggage at the scanning lanes in Phoenix. This is the type of scanning TSA uses for checked bags, but up to now the machines have been too large to place at scanning. For now, passengers will still have to take out laptops and liquids, but in the long-run, the CT scanners would end that need and really speed up the line.
Other current TSA-approved trials at various airports include fingerprints, either as an input at kiosks, or potentially as a replacement for boarding passes.
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