D/FW Works on Speedier Checkpoints
To make getting through airport security checkpoints easier, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport has added double entry lanes at each checkpoint and made a little extra room past security for passengers to pick up and repack their stuff, and put on their shoes.
Checkpoints will also be adorned with large posters -- put your metal objects in a plastic bag, remove laptop computers from their bags -- to clue in less experienced travelers on what to do.
"Most of our passengers are not familiar at all with the screening process," said Jim Crites, executive vice president of operations. "This is all part of our education and habit-changing campaign."
D/FW security lines are still some of the industry's quickest, although more sluggish than last year because of various rule changes and a larger number of local passengers flying. This new streamlining of the checkpoints could reduce screening times by 30 percent, Crites said.
The new checkpoint configuration will not affect security, said Jim Lair, acting federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration at D/FW.
Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of the summer travel season, and D/FW is expecting larger-than-normal crowds. American Airlines was expecting 67,000 passengers at D/FW Thursday and another 68,000 today -- better than the carrier's record-setting 2000 summer, said Tim Ahern, vice president of hub operations at D/FW.
Department of Transportation inspector general Kenneth Mead predicted that this summer many airports will see traffic and delays back to 2000 levels. Although D/FW is the third-busiest airport in the country, it is not among the top 15 airports in the number of delays.
IN THE KNOW
62 percent of D/FW Airport passengers are screened in less than five minutes, down 13 percent from last year.
D/FW averages 180 passengers per hour per checkpoint station. New procedures are expected to increase that rate to 245 passengers per hour.
During the first quarter of 2005, 18 percent of D/FW's 85,505 flight arrivals were delayed.