By Allison Lampert
MONTREAL, June 9 (Reuters) - Canada will introduce a new
kind of security line at airports in Montreal and Calgary later
this year to move people through checkpoints more quickly as
pressure rises in North America to reduce passenger bottlenecks.
The automated line, one element in a new checkpoint
developed by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority
(CATSA), is an example of how U.S. and Canadian airports are
using technology to speed passenger flow despite complaints of
insufficient numbers of screening staff.
The redesigned CATSA Plus checkpoint combines elements that
exist separately at other airports such as electronic gates to
screen passports and ceiling-mounted sensors to track the flow
of passengers and display waiting times at line-ups, an
authority spokesman said in an interview.
"We have to find new ways to keep security, which is our
first priority, but also improve the passenger flow, the
customer experience," said CATSA spokesman Mathieu Larocque.
The Montreal trial will start in late August with one line,
but include elements of the CATSA Plus checkpoint such as a
separate X-ray screening room where agents can view scans of
carry-on bags remotely.
It also will use lines that automate the distribution of
bins for carry-on bags at checkpoints to avoid screening
bottlenecks because multiple bags can be checked at the same
time. This would allow faster passengers to pass slower ones in
security lines. (To see CATSA's video of how the system works,
click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAkWGe6njCE)
Automated lines exist in Europe and in the United States,
where Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) DAL.N and the Transportation Security
Administration recently opened two lanes in Atlanta's airport.
TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger said at a U.S. Senate
committee hearing on June 7 that the automated lines have
improved efficiency at the checkpoints by 30 percent.
The world's largest carrier, American Airlines Group
AAL.O , said on Wednesday it will use automated lanes at some
airports.
CATSA Plus is being introduced as the Canada Airports
Council calls for a national service standard where 95 percent
of most passengers would be processed in 10 minutes or less in
major airports. While Canada has no national standard, CATSA
says it screens 88 percent of passengers in 15 minutes or less.
While airports applaud new screening checkpoints, they say
such initiatives won't replace federal budgets for screening
agents which have failed to keep up with rising traffic.
In the United States, the TSA expects to screen about 100
million more passengers this year than in 2013, even as its
full-time workforce declined by 12 percent.
According to CATSA's 2015 annual report, the authority
screened 58 million passengers in 2014-15, up about 20 percent
from 2010-11. In that time, the authority's operating budget
grew about 3 percent to C$544 million.
"It (CATSA Plus) is all fantastic and it is going to help.
But as traffic continues to grow we can't just rely on
efficiencies," said Daniel Gooch, president of the Canadian
Airports' Association on Wednesday.
CATSA's budget grew almost 11 percent in 2016-17 to C$618
million, partly because of an extra $29 million invested by
Canada's Liberal government to improve passenger service.