Running the TSA Gauntlet

TSA can be a zoo. I have been doing enough traveling to run into that particular nut house now and then, usually at Denver where recently I spent 1.5 hours winding my way through a line that started at the terminal doors, went past the baggage carousels, turned the corner down a corridor, hit the main terminal area, and then went through the normal TSA cordon zig-zags. It was a lovely experience.

Delta has now decided to do something about it, putting up $1 M of its own money to bring a little efficiency to the "system." They have added a newly-designed unloading station with 5 separate bays where 5 people at a time can load their bins. As each finishes they place their bin on the moving belt on the far side of the station, thus eliminating the problem of one guy dropping his stuff all over and blocking the rest of the line. Next, as the bag moves through the scanner, if a suspicious object is spotted, a separate belt kicks it out of the queue for close inspection while the rest of the bags proceed through. Finally, once through, the belt loops around and redeposits empty bins back at the original starting point obviating the need for a lackey to physically transport them by hand and instead focus on more important things, like say security screening. Efficiency gains of 25-35% are estimated from using the new system. 

We'll see how it works. It's entirely possible that the government will figure out some way to screw this up, but one hopes not. The question occurs, why couldn't TSA have figured this out sooner? Or not. OK, probably not. 

crankyflier.com/2016/06/02/instead-of-waiting-for-more-tsa-funding-delta-is-betting-1-million-on-improving-efficiency/