How We Do What We Do: Baggage Screening
News & Happenings
March 12, 2008
The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which created TSA, mandated 100 percent electronic screening of checked baggage. To meet this mandate, TSA installed minivan-sized explosive detection machines in airports across the country, typically in already crowded lobby areas.
Besides the space they occupy, the machines are labor intensive to operate. This is because each individual piece of luggage has to be manually placed into and then removed from the machines.
As TSA continues to deploy more advanced screening technology, an increasing number of airports are now screening checked baggage through automated systems. These high tech systems free up both lobby space and require fewer officers to operate. This means pre-9/11 convenience for passengers and post-9/11 security for TSA, airports and airlines.
An additional benefit of in-line baggage screening systems is better lost and stolen baggage claim management. In in-line systems, TSA can track the status of each bag, if officers physically touched that bag, and which officer completed the screening. Most in-line systems also have extensive closed circuit television systems that offer additional protection to officers and the traveling public.
Currently, more than half of the 2 million people that fly each day use airports with automated, in-line baggage screening systems.
- Click here to see a video of the inline baggage screening system at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
