Travel

Sea-Tac Security Lines Could Soon be Less Awful

A new system could help speed up dreaded airport screening wait times.

By Michael Rietmulder July 26, 2017

sea-tac-screening

For anyone who’s been stuck in Sea-Tac’s screening lines behind the guy struggling to get his shoes and laptop into those plastic bins in less than five minutes, help could be on the way.

Hapless goons will still be permitted to fly out of the Seattle area’s main airport, but new technology could get you through security checks quicker despite them. On Tuesday, Sea-Tac brass approved a plan to install automated screening lines designed to usher people through checkpoints faster and spare TSA agents some hassle.

The new screening lanes would allow up to five people to load their bins at the same time, with whoever’s ready first advancing in line, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports. Inevitably, someone will still forget about that water bottle they had in their carry on, but officials with airports that have already using the system (including London’s Heathrow and Chicago’s O’Hare) say its sped up the process.

Instead of having TSA agents stacking and retrieving bins, a new conveyor belt system will do that automatically, while directing bins requiring additional screening to a separate area. The idea is to ensure a continuous bin-screening circle, with as little manual labor as possible.

That’s right, we figured out how to make 735,000 pounds of steel sail through the sky, but just realized a fancier conveyor belt can help speed up a line.

At any rate, a Sea-Tac report suggests the automated system could increase “passenger throughput” by 30-40 percent.

According to the Journal, Delta and Alaska Air Group were lobbying for the new system. Sea-Tac officials noted the airport’s sharp rise in passengers (and checkpoint wait times) over the last five years. Sea-Tac will seek bids to for the $30 million system, which will be installed in phases between now and 2019, starting with checkpoints 2, 3 and 5. For now, Sea-Tac has only approved funding for $17 million.

 

Follow Us

Seattle: Again The Place To Be

Seattle: Again The Place To Be

Seattle nears pre-pandemic visitor levels in impressive turnaround

Visit Seattle released preliminary figures for 2023 at its annual meeting Wednesday, and found that the region hosted 37.8 million visitors last year, an 8.9% increase from 2022. That’s just 10% less than in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.

Foot Traffic Rises Again in Downtown Seattle

Foot Traffic Rises Again in Downtown Seattle

Downtown Seattle Association: Slow recovery continues

Nearly 1.9 million visitors came downtown last month. Downtown averaged 85,000 daily workers, a 16% increase from February 2023. That, however, is only 57% compared to the same period in 2020, right before the pandemic.

Cream of the Chop: Top Chef Kaleena Bliss

Cream of the Chop: Top Chef Kaleena Bliss

Washington native competes on popular Bravo cooking competition

Seattleites will spot a familiar face on the latest season of Top Chef, set in Wisconsin this year. Chef Kaleena Bliss competes for the coveted title on the longstanding cooking competition franchise, now in its 21st year.

Washington’s Woeful Gender-Pay Gap

Washington’s Woeful Gender-Pay Gap

Women across the state earn significantly less than men

Women across the state made $18,4000 less in average wages than men in 2022. New research from the National Partnership for Women and Families found that only Utah has a larger discrepancy, at $20,649.