There once was a time when getting through airport security
was quick and easy.
Before 9/11, you used to be able to go through airport screening
to meet friends or family coming in, there was no checking of ID
or anything.
X-ray machines were still by and large black and white images.
The FAA performance standards for screeners were almost
non-existent.
After the attacks on 9/11, the Transportation Security
Administration or TSA was created and security screenings
became much more thorough.
Back before 9/11, there was no such thing as a screening line.
Today, the process entails getting out your boarding pass
and ID. Most people have to take off their shoes, put them back
on and remove laptops, liquids, belts and jackets. If you set
off the machine or are randomly selected, pat downs can add to
wait times.
Bottlenecks are a really big problem at airports generally.
And in travel demand except for the pandemic when we took a huge
pause globally has been growing and airports don't grow every
year. Despite enhancements
in technology like millimeter wave imaging and CT scanners,
the airport security process has been slow to evolve, but that
may soon be changing.
Airlines still have an interest in keeping that line moving. And
they have partnered with the TSA on various initiatives, new
kinds of technology that can speed the process along.
Delta, JetBlue and American Airlines are just a few in the
US starting to test facial recognition for boarding and TSA
checkpoints. The TSA is also working with companies on
designing better screeners so passengers don't have to remove
anything from bags and can leave their shoes on.
The goal is to integrate it into the existing body scanners that
are there today. So you'll be able to walk in keep your shoes
on, and you'll do the full capability detection from the
shoes on.
As of 2019, the airport security market was worth $10.78 billion
and is expected to grow to over 11 billion by the end of 2027.
Smiths Detection, Analogic and Raytheon are some of the big
names working in the space. The TSA just marked its 20th
anniversary, we take a look at how far we've come in airport
security and the ways the TSA and airlines are looking to
speed up and make airport security even safer. Today,
airplane hijackings are rare, but were more common back in the
1960s and 70s. This led to airport passenger screenings for
weapons and firearms being federally mandated in 1973.
Metal detectors were the main source of screening, but knives
and razor blades were still allowed. In November 2001 in the
aftermath of the September 11 attacks, when 19 hijackers used
mace and knives to take control of several aircraft, President
George Bush signed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act
into law which established the TSA
Federal standards were created. The focus has been to take
airport security screening far more seriously.
The TSA's job is to oversee transportation systems in the US
with a primary focus on aviation. It employs over 60,000
people, which includes federal air marshals, dog teams,
explosive specialists and passenger screeners.
Wer'e significantly better prepared before attack like we
saw on 911.
At the airport, the TSA originally screened passengers
with metal detectors, adding millimeter wave full body
scanners in 2010. For bags, it uses X-ray and computed
tomography or CT imaging machines. Various terrorist
attempts over the years have shaped how we go through
security.
At Seattle Tacoma in Washington, and here at Logan shoes, we're
being inspected today.
A shoe bomber for example is the reason we take off our shoes
when we go through airport security. For the most part,
liquids are taken out from some attempts for making explosives
out of liquids. A
large part of it is still reactive. But we have to be both
reactive and proactive. Because what history has taught us is if
we fail to secure a gap in security, that gap will continue
to be exploited until we fill it.
The TSA is part of the Department of Homeland Security
and operates on a budget set by Congress. The total budget
allocated in 2019 was just over $8 billion. Part of the budget
is paid by airline passengers through a September 11 Security
fee collected from the airlines. In 2019, these fees added up to
$4.2 billion. And a fun fact the TSA also makes a small amount
from the loose change left at checkpoints in 2019. It
collected over $900,000. It uses a risk based intelligence driven
approach and admits that the majority of people traveling
pose little to no threat to aviation. It introduced TSA
Pre-Check in 2013 to allow vetted passengers to bypass some
of the standard screening procedures
You pay into to join it at $85 for five years. You agreed to
share fingerprints, you agree to let the TSA do a background
check on you. But in exchange, you get to go through a fast
track security, you don't have to remove your shoes, your
laptop and other electronics can remain in your carry on luggage.
It takes a large percentage of the population that pose little
to no risk. It gets them out of the primary checkpoint lines
which take longer to go through. So now we can make the whole
checkpoint process faster.
TSA says 95% of pre-check passengers wait less than five
minutes. It even pokes fun at itself with posters that say you
should only get dressed once a day to encourage people to join
pre-check. The program clear is also an option to get to the
front of the line for $179 a year but you still need to
remove your shoes and other items when screened unless you
also have pre-check. In the US, the TSA screens more than 2
million passengers, 5.5 million carry on items and 1.4 million
checked items daily. At Denver International Airport, which is
one of the busiest airports in the world. If traveling on a
Monday around 10am average wait times are typically between 45
to 60 minutes. The TSA is investing in other technologies
in an effort to speed up the process. Automated screening
lanes have been popping up throughout the US and airlines
are turning to biometric screening to improve and
streamline getting through security. But even with better
technology in 2015, an internal investigation performed by
Homeland Security red teams revealed that TSA agents failed
to identify weapons and explosives 95% of the time,
leading some to call the TSA simply security theater. US
officials said these vulnerabilities were addressed.
There's also a lot going on behind the scenes to help thwart
threats and attacks
There are some areas where the FBI might know what we've
deterred, because they've caught those types of acts early on.
But they've never been made public.
We're used to incorporating tech in our lives paying for
groceries, ordering a car ,ordering food. So airlines are
trying to play a little bit of catch up with what the
expectation is of today's customer.
Delta recently announced it partnered with the TSA to
streamline security. Delta SkyMiles customers with TSA
Pre-Check can choose to use facial recognition to drop bags
go through security, and to board the plane without taking
out your ID or boarding pass.
When the lines are long, the airline managers and staff get
worried. Long lines mean there's a greater likelihood that they
will have to hold flights, delay flights, to make sure that the
people who are stuck in line can get through security.
In 2020, the TSA started rolling out credential authentication
technology, or CAT, which allows the person being screened to put
their ID into a machine instead of handing it to an agent. It's
linked to a database that shows pre-check and flight
information, removing the need to also scan a boarding pass.
It's also testing CAT with a camera that takes a photo to
confirm your ID to minimize contact between officers and
passengers. It says photos will not be saved.
My expectation is TSA would very much like this to become the
standard. Our research shows that 81% of airline passengers
in the US are willing to share their personal data with
airlines, they fly regularly. The challenge is that biometrics
you know it still scares some people. And I think that the
fact that the TSA is controlling this data, not the airline may
be an issue because there are some people who actually may
trust the airline with their data more than a government
agency.
But what about passengers who don't want to opt into a
background check and still need to take off their shoes?
and empty your pockets and take your laptops out and it's just
you know, for all the tech that we're starting to see a lot of
it is verbal cues of reminding peoples just so they can keep
that line moving.
Ask TSA is a Twitter account where travelers can ask what
they can and can't bring through security. It also has an award
winning Instagram account showing absurd items passengers
tried to get through the checkpoint. The TSA has several
initiatives working to enhance screening technology. The
innovation task force works with the industry to find and test
better solutions. It also has a program called the capability
acceptance process or CAP that allows acceptable screening
equipment to be donated to speed up deployment and enhanced
security. It also awards contracts to companies working
on security solutions.
They put out a broad agency announcement which allows
vendors and others to apply for grants for innovative and next
generation technology. It's part of kind of the TSA that's
investing in new technology to kind of streamline their
process.
In the past and Analogic and Smith's Detection, among others
have been awarded contracts for CT scanners that can scan in 3D,
and identify explosives without the need to remove liquids or
electronics. Liberty defense was awarded 500,000 from the TSA,
the company is working on a walk through screener called the
Hexwave. And a shoe screener.
It will take a reflection off of the foot to see if there's
anything in the shoe area that could be a potential threat. The
goal is to integrate it into the existing body scanners that are
there today. So you'll be able to walk in keep your shoes on,
and you'll do the full capability detection from the
shoes on.
Liberty has an exclusive license to the technology that was
developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and funded
by the Department of Homeland Security.
It's probably about a three year program until we see it at
airports.
The Hexwave looks like a walk through metal detector. But with
capabilities similar to the body scanner, you'll be
able to detect any type of anomaly so it's metal
nonmetallic, liquids plastics, ghost guns, drugs, we'll be able
to identify those as threats that shouldn't be on the body.
The company will go through an 18 month program coordinating
with the TSA and then begin testing in an airport or a lab.
The agreement is specifically for screening airport workers,
but they hope it could be used for general screening as well.
While there has not been a plane hijacking in the US since 2001,
new security concerns have emerged.
Now we worry about suicide bomber in the terminal building.
We were about active shooter in the terminal building and the
threat that's always been there has been the threat of the
insider. Because they effectively have the keys to the
house, they effectively bypass a lot of the security that
passengers have to go through.
The TSA has seen a record number of guns coming through airports,
a number that has been rising annually over the past seven
years.
Now since the beginning of this calendar year since the
beginning of 2021. We stopped well over 4,000 light weapons
from getting on board aircraft. Little over 3,000 other classes
of firearms like stun guns and and firearm components.
With more guns being found than ever before and long lines
before security. Liberty sees the use case for its technology.
Even before you reach TSA.
We're looking to be at the entrance before people even come
into the airport. So the land side before they go to the
aviation checkpoint.
The future of airport security looks like biometrics, 3D
scanners and better threat detection, some of which are
starting to be deployed today. But not everywhere. Each airport
is different. So it may take some time before you experience
one of these new technologies.
Every Airport has its own unique airport security program is just
differences in geography differences in operational
methods, it's way too different for a one size fits all
solution.
I not sure if we will ever get to the point where people can
simply walk through without having to have their carry on
bags x rayed. So I think you'll still have to go through some
kind of a screening area.
The hope is for these systems to be implemented in the next few
years. For now, choosing to pay for background checks and using
your face as identification may be the fastest way through
airport security.
TSA will never be perfect. It's an imperfect system. And I agree
with those that say if somebody really wanted to carry out an
attack on aviation they could be successful. Our primary role in
aviation security is deterrence. It's the FBI his job to go out
there and catch terrorists. It's Department of Defense's job to
go out there and prevent terrorism from reaching our
shores. It's TSA is job, it's airport security's job to
provide a adequate level of deterrence so that bad actors or
terrorists or criminals decide to attack somewhere else besides
aviation. And in those areas. I think we're doing a much better
job of deterrence than we used to be. There's always going to
be room for improvement.