« Lost Baggage Tips | Main | Business Travel Tips »
Airport Screening
October 10, 2007 | Permalink
One major hurdle the business traveler faces when boarding a plane is airport screening. The long lines and extended wait times that accompany these security checks have become more than a minor hassle. In order to speed up the screening process while improving accuracy and safety, the TSA is turning to newer more efficient technologies.
One machine you will be seeing more of is the Advanced X-ray machine, which is already at New York John F. Kennedy, Reagan Washington National, Los Angeles International and Albuquerque airports. There are also plans to install 250 more of them in airports nationwide by next summer. Advanced X-ray machines take high-resolution photos of carry-on bags from two angles and may someday eliminate the requirement that passengers take laptops out of their cases at security checkpoints because of the higher quality photos taken. Another is the handheld bottle scanner currently in use at 19 airports. Handheld bottle scanners detect the level of explosive material in the vapors from cans and bottles. It won't soon do away with the restriction on the quantity of liquids and gels passengers can carry through checkpoints but they could make the checking of bottles that are exempted from the restriction, such as baby formula, go faster. Still being tested are the Backscatter X-ray and Millimeter-wave imaging, which both photograph travelers underneath their clothing to find hidden weapons.
Airport screenings may not become less of a headache in the immediate future, but business travelers should be aware of the new security technologies being tested and put to work in their most frequented airports.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83452aac569e200e54f090f848834
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Airport Screening:
