Many airports use chain-link fencing with barbed wire, but Dallas Love Field (DAL) officials sought more advanced fencing with a more pleasing appearance.
Passengers tend to think of airport security as TSA checkpoints and police K9s, but much more goes into keeping the public safe. From increasingly sophisticated terminal cameras to employee credentialing and thermal imaging, airport security systems leverage advanced technologies; and systems eventually wear out or require major upgrades.
For 23 years, TSA has screened passengers and their belongings at U.S. airports to help keep air travel safe. The traffic is staggering, with an average 2.5 million people passing through checkpoints at more than 430 airports each day, and even more during holidays and other surges.
In the last two decades, passenger volume has nearly doubled at DEN, and security technology has changed considerably. As part of the airport’s Great Hall Program, a $2.1 billion capital improvement project, all checkpoints are moving up a level—both physically and technologically.
Efficiency and efficacy are the watchwords for employee security screening at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The guiding objective is to detect potential threats without causing undue inconvenience for workers, and DFW is using new technology located in purpose-built spaces to balance the two intertwined goals.
Striking a balance between creating an inviting atmosphere for travelers and adhering to rigid security requirements is a familiar challenge for airport operators worldwide. Oakland International Airport (OAK) seems to have found that fulcrum point with an $8 million exit lane improvement project it quietly unveiled in July 2023.
The historic COVID pandemic forced businesses around the world to rejigger, reconfigure and muster all the ingenuity they had to remain viable. At Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) in Hanover Township, PA, the pandemic exacerbated passenger flow problems the airport had wrestled with for years.
While biometrics initiatives had already emerged in the 1990s, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred more passengers to want additional low-touch and touch-free options. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) took this to heart and commissioned facial recognition technology at 25 boarding gates.
Miami Int'l Airport (MIA) ranks among the busiest airports in the world, with about 43,000 takeoffs and landings a month. Naturally, the bustling airport makes safety a top priority. But unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) using drones present a growing safety risk.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is balancing these challenging factors by implementing Mobile ID, a program that allows Arizona residents with TSA Pre- PreCheck® status to load their state-issued identification information onto their mobile phone or through Apple Wallet for use at TSA checkpoints. It's all part of a TSA field assessment pilot program, and PHX led the way when it became the first U.S. airport to adopt Mobile ID in March 2022.
Miami International Airport (MIA) is one of two locations partnering with TSA to evaluate cutting-edge perimeter intrusion detection and deterrence technologies. The tools being tested'video surveillance, video analytics, laser walls, ground-based radar, etc.'were integrated into the existing security and operations center at MIA for a two-year pilot program.
With a high volume of unseasoned travelers passing through its terminals every day, Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas provides an ideal working laboratory for new screening equipment. Currently, TSA is putting several technologies and procedures through the paces at its Innovation Checkpoint on the lower level of Terminal 3.
