Airport Design vs. Security

First, let us all agree that air travel – indeed, the world as we used to know it -- will never be the same.  We have seen estimates of “new normal” traffic never exceeding 65% of past peaks (your flights and passengers); 50% or more of small businesses simply ceasing to exist, (your concessions and parking revenues) much of which could take 4-5 years to level out, and assumes a reasonable (not necessarily total) pandemic solution.  Delta says at least 2 years out, United has aired plans to furlough 30% of its employees, and during one recent week the busiest airport in the entire U.S. was Anchorage.  

Prior to 9/11, when TSA did not exist, airport architects viewed everything from a passenger convenience/ experience point of view; security has typically been a necessary but inconvenient evil that messes up the designers’ aesthetics and the IATA LOS flows.

With all due respect to both parties, architects have evolved much more fully than us security geeks, who must help TSA impose ever-changing rules and requirements on the architects’ things-of-beauty.  I have attended several recent webinars where designers have offered reasonable suggestions for flexible design configurations ...  almost all of which are geared toward pandemic response, but many of which give security designers the night sweats.

Chief among them: passenger self-screening, one “benefit” of which is suggested to be smaller queues and faster throughput at several more dispersed checkpoints; all of which buries the headline:  Literally thousands of loaded weapons are still  being discovered nationwide after 19 years and TSA’s 90%+ failure rate at Red Team inspections – somewhat like the CV19 testing: the threat will not be found if you’re not testing properly.  So now we are looking at more checkpoints with added screeners handling more hand searches of self-screeners who ‘forgot’ they were packing heat.

A related concern for the concourse, hold rooms and gates: 6-foot spacing.  Some concepts for existing terminals would have the queues share space with the adjacent gate, or the one across the concourse, but the long term plan involves larger terminals with lots more space ... but wait, there’s more less!  If we assume the industry prognosticators are right about the 65% ‘new normal’ and the hugely downsized staff , potential fleet size, and  resulting schedule losses and less space for in-house food and concessions , should we be building larger and differently configured new terminals with lots of wasted 6-foot spacing, or just re-configuring space we already have?  With the focus on finding and/or avoiding and/or isolating viral infection, how much space and what technology is necessary for the new medical facilities and environmental isolation from the public areas?   Virtual queues have some value in spreading out the crowding at the gate and other choke points, but also increase the need for ‘pre-staging’, transit space and rest areas; airline lounges can become ‘clean rooms’, which also suggests more in/out screening.

Physical security will not change much, although cybersecurity and biometric technologies such as facial recognition and artificial intelligence will continue to improve.  Some terminal designers think passenger security screening may be different, hoping for that elusive “Tunnel of Truth” walk-through experience in which various technologies examine multiple aspects of your person and possessions as you move through non-stop – a lovely concept that will remain an illusion for a long time.

One thing that has not been talked about much is the notion that people and businesses have discovered webinars and on-line teleconferences can often eliminate the need for certain travel and in-person meetings.  This is a major cultural change affecting the travel industry – hundreds fewer annual conferences, professional meetings, trade shows, educational opportunities and much more – I have personally saved a great deal of time and money by missing three industry conferences and taken part in approximately fourteen substitute on-line experiences so far this year, forcing me to remain at home with my family.  They seem like nice people....