KEN HAWKINS/ALAMY (AIRPORT PHOTO), DENVER AIRPORT (ILLUSTRATION)Denver airport’s
schematic of its new
TSA area. Opposite: a
busy TSA checkpoint
at DEN in 2016.“Security screening is the No. 1 complaint we get,’’ says airport
CEO Kim Day. “People don’t like disrobing in public,’’ she adds, and
the area is so noisy and unwelcoming that restaurants around the
checkpoint do terribly.
Instead of replicating the 2002 design with the terminal renovation
project, TSA committed to something new. The checkpoint of the
future, expected to open by the end of 2020, will include self-service
boarding pass scanning—you walk in, scan your boarding pass, and
get assigned to one of eight “vestibules”—smaller areas that give the
feel of a less-trafficked airport.
The vestibules will be designed for a maximum of 30-35 people at
a time. But they serve a different purpose: TSA can create specialized
lanes to segregate people considered high-risk, or perhaps people
thought to move slower through screening so that they don’t slow
down lots of others. “It gives TSA an extra tool’’ to enhance risk-based
screening, Day says.
Some vestibules will be assigned as PreCheck screening. One may
be used to group families together in a single queue; another for elderly
travelers. A vestibule may also be designated, unknown to travelers, as
the processing point for all travelers who might be considered higher
risk or even those on watch lists. They may get closer screening.
When you get to your assigned vestibule, your ID will be checked
by a TSA officer. If you tried to game the system and skip to a different
vestibule, TSA will know. In addition, the agency has been working
to develop real-time facial and object-recognition tracking software
that can spot wrongdoing with video cameras as it happens.A broad corridor in each vestibule will include room for trained
dogs to sniff travelers as they file by. Specially trained dogs have proven
to be extremely effective at detecting explosives and other weapons,
and once one of these canines has assessed and cleared a traveler, TSA
has far greater confidence that person does not present a safety risk.
The checkpoint of the future will be on the same level where
passengers check in. Airline ticket counters and baggage drops are
shrinking dramatically in square footage because of self-service—and
who checks in at the ticket counter anymore anyway? The space TSA
moves out of will become more retail area. “Happy passengers spend
more money,’’ Day says.CORRIDOR FOR
K9 OPERATIONS1
TSA will have canine
teams (dogs and
officers) screening all pas-
sengers after they enter.SELF-SERVICE
BOARDING PASS CHECK2
Put your boarding
pass on a reader and
you will be assigned to
one of eight “vestibules”
based on a risk assess-
ment. PreCheck members
get assigned to PreCheck
vestibules. High-risk pas-
sengers may be unknow-
ingly sent to a lane for
closer scrutiny. (The TSA
technology for this is still
under development.)THE VESTIBULES3
Eight separate
screening queues are
designed for a maximum of
30-35 people at a time.TSA DOCUMENT CHECK4
The agency is now
using systems that
verify your ID and match
it up to flight manifests,
so no boarding pass is
necessary at this stop. If
you don’t use the assigned
vestibule, however, the
system will alarm.CROWD CONTROL5
The long corridor
outside the vestibules
is for very large crowds on
holidays or when storms
disrupt flight schedules.FOR VIP PASSENGERS6
United Airlines and
other airlines can
offer a separate entrance
for frequent flyer members
holding top elite status.26ENTEREXITAPRIL/MAY 2019KEN HAWKINS/ALAMY (AIRPORT PHOTO), DENVER AIRPORT (ILLUSTRATION)
Denver airport’s
schematic of its new
TSA area. Opposite: a
busy TSA checkpoint
at DEN in 2016.“Security screening is the No. 1 complaint we get,’’ says airport
CEO Kim Day. “People don’t like disrobing in public,’’ she adds, and
the area is so noisy and unwelcoming that restaurants around the
checkpoint do terribly.
Instead of replicating the 2002 design with the terminal renovation
project, TSA committed to something new. The checkpoint of the
future, expected to open by the end of 2020, will include self-service
boarding pass scanning—you walk in, scan your boarding pass, and
get assigned to one of eight “vestibules”—smaller areas that give the
feel of a less-trafficked airport.
The vestibules will be designed for a maximum of 30-35 people at
a time. But they serve a different purpose: TSA can create specialized
lanes to segregate people considered high-risk, or perhaps people
thought to move slower through screening so that they don’t slow
down lots of others. “It gives TSA an extra tool’’ to enhance risk-based
screening, Day says.
Some vestibules will be assigned as PreCheck screening. One may
be used to group families together in a single queue; another for elderly
travelers. A vestibule may also be designated, unknown to travelers, as
the processing point for all travelers who might be considered higher
risk or even those on watch lists. They may get closer screening.
When you get to your assigned vestibule, your ID will be checked
by a TSA officer. If you tried to game the system and skip to a different
vestibule, TSA will know. In addition, the agency has been working
to develop real-time facial and object-recognition tracking software
that can spot wrongdoing with video cameras as it happens.A broad corridor in each vestibule will include room for trained
dogs to sniff travelers as they file by. Specially trained dogs have proven
to be extremely effective at detecting explosives and other weapons,
and once one of these canines has assessed and cleared a traveler, TSA
has far greater confidence that person does not present a safety risk.
The checkpoint of the future will be on the same level where
passengers check in. Airline ticket counters and baggage drops are
shrinking dramatically in square footage because of self-service—and
who checks in at the ticket counter anymore anyway? The space TSA
moves out of will become more retail area. “Happy passengers spend
more money,’’ Day says.CORRIDOR FOR
K9 OPERATIONS1
TSA will have canine
teams (dogs and
officers) screening all pas-
sengers after they enter.SELF-SERVICE
BOARDING PASS CHECK2
Put your boarding
pass on a reader and
you will be assigned to
one of eight “vestibules”
based on a risk assess-
ment. PreCheck members
get assigned to PreCheck
vestibules. High-risk pas-
sengers may be unknow-
ingly sent to a lane for
closer scrutiny. (The TSA
technology for this is still
under development.)THE VESTIBULES3
Eight separate
screening queues are
designed for a maximum of
30-35 people at a time.TSA DOCUMENT CHECK4
The agency is now
using systems that
verify your ID and match
it up to flight manifests,
so no boarding pass is
necessary at this stop. If
you don’t use the assigned
vestibule, however, the
system will alarm.CROWD CONTROL5
The long corridor
outside the vestibules
is for very large crowds on
holidays or when storms
disrupt flight schedules.FOR VIP PASSENGERS6
United Airlines and
other airlines can
offer a separate entrance
for frequent flyer members
holding top elite status.26ENTEREXITAPRIL/MAY 2019