Rethinking Security Lines

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… it would be nice if security lines were shorter than your flight.

In May, the TSA announced that it let go the head of security over long lines at airport security checks. As someone who daydreams about making lines like these shorter, I couldn’t resist logging my ideas to makes lines shorter: 

• Increase staff and/or screening machines (increase capacity). Non-zero wait times can almost always be reduced by increasing human and physical capital. In theory, one could have enough screening machines and personnel to insure that no passenger ever experienced wait time. But, in reality, there are cost and resource restrictions that limit the degree to which one can pull this lever. Besides, wait times don’t need to be zero, they just need to be reasonable.
• Rethink staff roles (increase capacity). As cliché as it is to say “people are just standing around,” my personal observations suggest that not all personnel on a security line have roles that do not require them to perform their responsibilities 100% of the time. For example, some personnel is only needed to handle exception cases, such as a passenger or luggage not passing the initial security check. That said, these personnel could perform the same role for a number of security lines or be reallocated to new lines. A potential downside would be that those few who need an exception case screening may experience more of a delay however, this would be offset by everyone who would experience a shorter wait time for an initial screening.
• Offer incentives that reduce carry-ons (decrease the load). With the number of airlines charging money to check a bag, it seems like everyone is trying to opting to carry-on luggage. This means a lot of passengers are dragging an extra hurdle through the security check, weighing wait times and increasing demand for staff. The increase in carry-ons also increases delays in airline departures thanks to the extra embarking time required for passengers to store their carry-ons. To reduce carry-ons and the strain they cause, the TSA could offer incentives such as
  • paying passenger’s luggage fees
  • waving fines for or reimburse airlines who encourage to passengers to check-in bags
  • entering into a cost-sharing models with airlines to reflect the relative load that particular airline passengers and their luggage have on TSA security lines
• Let more passengers through the Pre-Check (or similar lines), (shift load to more efficient processes). TSA Pre-Check status on a ticket allows one to go through a special security line that is much more quick than most as 1) the screening is less invasive and requires less removal of clothing and items like small liquids and laptops may remain in one’s bag and 2) less people go through the line. As of now, pre-check is limited to those who are 1) flying airlines that subscribe to TSA pre-check, 2) purchased their tickets in time and 3) are presumed to be a low, known threat as they either have submitted to prior background checks via programs like Global-Entry or TSA Pre-Check and/or are frequent flyers of the given airline. That said, there are tons of passengers who are of low threat status but failed to buy their tickets in time and with the right airlines. Shifting more low-threat passengers into pre-check lines or security lines with similar security check could reduce the overall screening times and, in turn, lines.
• Put people on the lines with the shortest wait time (decrease variability). The last few times I went through a particular NYC airline terminal, an agent pointed me to a line that was the “shortest.” In reality, what they were doing was trying to make it so that the last person in either line appeared to be standing next to each other. What they neglected to understand was that one line went straight and only had a dozen or so people. The other line took several curves and had about 50 people. So while, at the time of entering the queue, the lines seemed the same, one was over 4 times as long!

Security at Denver International Airport by oddharmonic https://www.flickr.com/photos/oddharmonic/4756905580