Innovations bring efficiency to airport's security

One big mazelike waiting line, "wand lanes'' and X-ray machines for shoes are some ways Baltimore-Washington International is making security more flyer friendly.

By BILL ADAIR, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 7, 2002

LINTHICUM, Md. -- A revolution is under way at Concourse C.

This concourse, like the others at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, had a terrible reputation for long security lines. Last fall, the lines were so long that the airport hired a Groucho Marx impersonator to entertain the frustrated passengers.

But today, Concourse C is a laboratory where the new Transportation Security Administration is testing ways to improve checkpoints. Many of the innovations here will be used at other airports later this year.

Concourse C has a Disney-style waiting area that moves passengers more efficiently than the chaotic lines of the past. People who need to be searched with an electronic wand are diverted into a glass-walled area so they can't hand off suspicious items to anyone else. One X-ray machine is used exclusively for shoes, to reduce the starts and stops of the other machines.

Small details have led to big improvements. Passengers are given shallow plastic bins for coins and keys instead of taller ones that frequently tipped over. TV screens flash friendly messages that tell people how to get through the checkpoints more quickly: "Disposing of scissors will "cut' down on wait time."

So far, the efforts are paying off. Concourse C is screening 40 percent more people per hour with roughly the same number of staffers. The average waiting time has been cut from 20 minutes to about 12.

The security at BWI, once an embarrassment, is now a model of efficiency.

Groucho isn't needed any more.

The test kitchen

When the airlines were in charge of security, airport checkpoints were a low priority.

If the lines got too long, the airlines simply added X-ray machines. But the carriers made little effort to study the efficiency or make improvements.

Now that the government is in charge of airport security, checkpoints are a high priority. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta says the goal of the new Transportation Security Administration is to provide "world-class security and world-class customer service."

BWI is the test kitchen.

The airport is an ideal choice because it is notorious for congestion and confusion. BWI has had a difficult time keeping up with the rapid growth of Southwest Airlines, which has used the airport as the centerpiece for much of its East Coast expansion.

The federal effort at BWI is headed by Hans Miller, 33, a lanky Harvard graduate (he majored in Chinese politics) who has spent most of his career as a management consultant. His colleagues who are involved in creating the transportation agency include loaned executives from Disney, Marriott and other companies with experience in customer service and industrial design. They use buzzwords like "wanding time" and "touchpoint" (as in Miller's comment that "The key touchpoint is the checkpoint").

Miller said his BWI team has two basic goals: to improve security and reduce hassle. Balancing the goals is not easy.

"It's easy to visualize a system where you'd have a lot of security but a lot of upset passengers," he said.

To design the improvements at Concourse C, the BWI team talked to airline employees, security experts and people who run checkpoints around the nation. They measured waiting times and interviewed passengers.

"We heard a lot of frustration," Miller said.

A serpentine maze

The first things you notice at the entrance to Concourse C are flat-screen TV monitors on the walls. They flash bright messages about how passengers should get ready for the checkpoint.

The messages are simple -- remove your laptop computer, take items out of your pockets and remove your coat -- but they make the operation more efficient.

At airports without those signs, there are frequent delays when passengers stop before the X-ray machines to dig items from their pockets. A single passenger who can't find his cell phone can delay dozens of people.

The signs in the BWI experiment are simple but powerful. The designers have found that passengers will do what they're told. The problem in the past was that passengers weren't told anything.

Miller said it's likely that other airports will use identical signs, which will create a consistent nationwide message.

The other big change at the entrance to Concourse C is the serpentine line. Instead of having separate lines for each X-ray machine, passengers are now routed through a single maze similar to the ones used at amusement parks.

A single line is more efficient because people are not brought to a standstill by the guy digging for his cell phone at one machine. They are simply routed to the other machines.

Airport officials say the lines in Concourse C are a big improvement.

"It looks much better and people get through the line more quickly," said airport spokesman John White. "You see people in front of you moving. That has a very positive psychological effect."

Bins and electrical plugs

Many changes at Concourse C are small.

The X-ray machines and metal detectors are the same ones used at other airports, but they are wired directly into the electrical system instead of using plugs. That should prevent a recurrence of the recent security breach in Los Angeles when a metal detector was discovered to be unplugged.

Like other airports, BWI has long provided small plastic bins so passengers could put their keys, coins and cell phones through the X-ray machines. But those colored bins frequently tipped over and spilled the contents. That led to delays because passengers had to pick up their items.

The new bins have lower sides so they will not tip over, and they are clear so that passengers can see their items more easily.

The space around the X-ray machines has been redesigned to make it more orderly and to separate passengers who are cleared to the gate from the people who need additional screening.

The design is "about service and efficiency and control -- knowing where passengers are and why they're there," said Miller.

At many airports, the area around the machines is chaotic. People reclaiming their bags mingle with those who set off the metal detector and need additional screening.

To eliminate that chaos, the BWI team has created separate areas called "wand lanes" where passengers can be searched with electronic wands. The area has a glass wall so passengers can keep an eye on their luggage and so supervisors can keep an eye on the screeners.

Also, the BWI team has an X-ray machine dedicated to examining shoes. That eliminates the starts and stops for the other machines and reduces the number of people walking back and forth.

By reducing the chaos in the screening area, the Transportation Security Administration hopes to avoid incidents like the one in Tampa last Tuesday, when a man grabbed his bag and left after a gun had been detected inside.

"We've created a much greater degree of control," Miller said. "It is very difficult now for an individual to drift away."

But not all the innovations have been a success.

The BWI team tried giving passengers free plastic bags for coins and keys. The theory was that the bags would allow passengers to go through the checkpoints faster.

But no time was saved. Many passengers stopped after the X-ray machines to fish out their items and then tossed the bags on the ground. The BWI team scrapped the idea.

It's hard to determine a cost for the BWI experiment. The equipment and staff haven't changed much, but there are new walls, chairs for people to sit in during a shoe check and electric doors that can shut quickly if there is a possible security breach.

The experiment has gotten good reviews.

Security specialists from the Air Transport Association, the airline trade group, took a look last week and came away impressed.

"It appeared to provide very high levels of security, but it was also efficient," said Michael Wascom, a spokesman for the group. However, the airlines would still like a "trusted traveler" card that would allow frequent fliers who pass a background check to get through lines more quickly.

Passengers are also happy with the improvements.

"BWI had problems at first, but they're doing an admirable job of getting it together, paring the lines down, getting knowledgeable people in place and managing traffic," New Jersey architect Cal Greene told the Baltimore Sun. "Everybody was polite and pretty expeditious."

-- Times staff Writer Bill Adair can be reached at (202) 463-0575 or adair@sptimes.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright