DL & the airport team up to improve passenger flow in ATL
 

For those concerned with ATL's long waits at security.....

Delta has partnered with officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a Georgia congressional delegation and the Transportation Security Administration to develop a solution to the airport’s security line woes.

Hartsfield-Jackson will add four lanes at the main security checkpoint by June 30, bringing the total to 22 lanes. Work will begin in September to completely redesign the security checkpoint area to accommodate additional security lines. The redesign should be complete toward the end of the year.

The security checkpoint redesign will be exclusive to the main area and will not include the additional checkpoint near the T Concourse.

“Hartsfield-Jackson currently has 18 security lanes in the main checkpoint,” said Kristi Holtrop, regional director-Corporate Real Estate. “We will be working with the Department of Aviation to redesign the main area, which has the highest volume of passenger traffic. The ultimate design will result in a much more efficient layout for the number of passengers at Hartsfield-Jackson.”

According to the Department of Aviation, wait times at Hartsfield-Jackson can vary from less than five minutes to more than an hour, depending on the time of day and season of travel. This has become an issue for customers, airlines and officials of the world’s busiest passenger airport.

By the end of 2004, Delta passengers should see a significant reduction in wait times during both peak hours and holiday periods. Though the same security measures will be in place, the TSA requests that passengers avoid packing prohibited items, wearing items that contain metal while passing through the metal detectors and leaving laptop computers in their carrying cases prior to approaching the X-ray machines.

The airport's website even offers a system called Trak-a-Line.

"Upon registering, you will be sent an email whenever there are changes to the wait time at the security checkpoint lines. If the security checkpoint lines at the security checkpoint lines lengthen or shorten, you'll know right away via email."

You may also check on ATL's wait times on the airport's main page or on delta.com.

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And expansion or improvement in the GM/PM special security lines? Or at least a way to make them flow QUICKER than the already horrible regular lines?

Okay, I could not let it pass.

I am all for flying safe. I am all for being secure.

But, really, we all KNOW this charade does very little in making us safer. Yet, we continue to spend mega millions, maybe billions so that we can say "better safe than sorry".

When will it ever end?

What if all these resources were put to better use?

Simple Solution
 

Looks like the same useless, tired methods that are nothing more than posturing and handwaving.

The real solution is simple:

End the Great Sharp and Pointy Object Search.

Stop Randomly Harassing Passengers.

Stop Continuously Harassing Passengers.

End SSSS Harassment.

End the Shoe Carnival.

End the ID checks.

Yesterday, in Toronto, my stuff got pulled apart and Xrayed three times looking for a bottle opener... which was never actually found. It must have been a scary bottle opener!

My mother's sterling silver beads must be equally dangerous! (Maybe that is why they call the string of beads "A choker"!!!

Hey let's get a grip here. I totally agree that some of the TSA folks are on a power trip (in fact, some are real jerks), some of the stuff they do is ridiculous nit-picky stuff and that all of that screening doesn't guarantee that another 9/11 type incident won't happen. But if you think for a minute that if we just open the plane doors and let everyone just walk aboard (with a ticket of course) that we won't have more human missles flying into skyscrapers, think again. And how would you have liked being on one of those 4 planes on 9/11? Sure it can and probably will happen again, but all of that hassle does cut down on the chances and number of times it may happen. And as much as a lot of us fly, cutting down on the chances is a good thing. That's my two cents worth. :D

Nowhere in my post did I advocate eliminating all security.

I assert that we should get rid of useless measures that do nothing for aircraft safety and everything for passenger harassment.

None of the hassle that I have mentioned will ever decrease the chances of another incident. Sensible screening measures, however, will.

Additional Checkpoint Near T-Gate???
 

Just noticed this new line today...

Not the Elite/FC line, but another one that enters right at the security x-ray machines (on the right side of the elite lines)...

What is this line for???


By the way, here are two BIG improvements they could make.

1. Put up a barrier between the regulare and elite lines so the riff-rafff doesn't come over - that would cut the elite-line waiting time at least 30%.

2. Put the signs farther out to the Atrium that the checkpoint is only for Elite Fliers/First Class. The Elite line always has people waiting in itthat should go to the standard lines because there is no sign until you get to the airport worker sitting there - a little late by that point.

No, in fact, I don't think we will have more human missles flying into skyscrapers, the passengers won't allow it. If it happens again, they better be very prepared for the fight that I and others are going to put up. We might crash but I doubt we crash into something.

Well Spiff as I said I agree with you that some of the stuff is pointless, but if I recall correctly the 9/11 guys didn't have guns but sharp, pointy objects and wasn't Richard Reid trying to blow up a plane with explosives in his shoes? I don't know where to draw the line between safe, effective measures and needless hassles anymore than anyone else. All I'm saying is this ain't a particularly friendly world right now (and that street cuts in both--or multiple--directions) and I'd rather go for a little overkill.
Most of us who post here fly regularly and should know how to clear security 90% of the time without having a major hassle (although I agree the inconsistencies are annoying). If someone is constantly having fights with the security folks, I'd say they are having an authority issue thing getting aroused. When I'm flying, my goal is to get from point A to point B in the easiest, quickest and most comfortable way possible, and most of the time that's relatively easy to do if you want to.

1. Sharp pointy objects did not cause 9/11, cooperation with terrorists and opening cockpit doors did. Broken wine bottles, martial arts, even a Cross pen, would have all worked that day because of the way we were trained to deal with terrorists.

2. Richard Reid could have put his bomb in his underwear or in his butt. Anyone else can still do this. Shoes not only are not the only place that explosives may be places but focusing only on them and ignoring all other possibilities actually makes it easier for someone to smuggle explosives past the check point. The Shoe Carnival puts people in danger and it doesn't do a damn thing for security.

Well I actually agree with you, indufan , that passengers wouldn't sit back passively like they apparently did on 3 of the 4 planes on 9/11. Still, would it make you feel better if your spouse, children, etc (or you) crashed in a corn field instead of a skyscraper? Or maybe you could be the hero who was killed helping to keep the plane from going down. I'm a runner, not a fighter, and there aint a hell of a lot of places to run on a plane (especially an RJ). :D

Maybe we should drop our drawers and start mooning the security folks as we pass through the metal detectors. Or, better yet, maybe they could train the screeners to do rectal exams and we could catch some developing prostrate cancers earlier, even if we didn't find any terrorists. :D :D

It's my understanding that a TSA agent controls the entrance to the GM/PM line - so unless you sneak in or duck under the roped off line, I can't see that many of the people in the GM/PM line aren't actually GMs and PMs..