Article: How to Improve Airport Security Queues

[AFF Editor]

How to Improve Airport Security Queues is an article written by AFF editorial staff:

How to Improve Airport Security Queues

Earlier this year, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce infamously blamed inexperienced and "not match fit" customers for lengthy delays at airport security checkpoints.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[Scarlett]

The official response is probably something like, how do you catch the bad guys if you give them advance warning what you’re looking for on any given day…

Now, there should be a direct correlation between the equipment being used and the requirements for the passenger, hence enduring signs, but as you explained in the article, it always varies slightly from terminal to terminal, airport to airport and country to country. Maybe the difference is based on the lowest common denominator working that shift? Shouting is easier to change than different signs?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Agree Matt… better signs are needed. I’m not liking the new ‘auto’ scanners much… your bag gets shunted off to the side and it’s hard to know why it’s breached the rules

You have to wait ages for an officer to get to your bag, and recently in Amsterdam I asked ‘what are you looking for?’, she replied ‘I don’t have to tell you that’. I said ‘I’d be interested to know so I don’t leave that in my bag for next time’, she repeated ‘we don’t have to answer that’.

The search revealed nothing and I was good to go

 

[JohnK]

Improve airport security by getting people through quicker.

If staff and machinery are the issue then they obviously need to rethink their strategy.

There's very little consistency between airports. Laptops, liquids, aerosols, belts, shoes. Different requirements depending on the airport or scanner used.

Yes you can blame people for not being ready but if you have to make sure that all your pockets are empty, stand in front of scanner for 10 seconds then wait for someone to interpret the data and if you're like me 2 hotspots show up even though nothing there so waste more time.

There has to be another way. You can't expect people to turn up to airport 5-6 hours before their flight, wait in long queues and people are still missing flights.

Can I ask a silly question? In all this time have they actually caught anyone planning to do something bad?

 

[Mark1966]

Amen to clearer signage!

CBR is my home port but I've been traveling through ADL, BNE, SYD, MEL in the last week and each seem to have different rules. In BNE the rules at the premium scanning seem different to the regular one I had to use a few months back when the premium was closed.

Even at CBR I have been fine with my suit jacket on until recently, now they want it off - and those full body scanners inevitably pick up 'something' in a different location on my body - despite there being NOTHING there.

I specifically brought a 'checkpoint friendly' laptop bag (TOM BIHN Cadet, Everyday Carry & Travel Laptop Briefcase, 13.5L) which used to save me a lot of time pre-COVID just sliding out the laptop in its sleeve. Since COVID everything is so variable that is OK in some airports and not in others.

It seems that you can do everything in your power to get through quickly - but the system is designed to frustrate you!

 

[turnip666]

Since I had my knee replaced, it doesn't matter what I take off, put in a tray or through the scanner....I get the full treatment and explosives check.

 

[macca99]

100% - so frsutrating and requires so much rework

My only addition to your suggestion would be to have the signage at multiple points in the security queue. At one airport I go to, you dont find out until you are standing next to the screening equipment what you need to remove/leave on, etc

 

[themaiz]

Four weeks ago, a few days before the potential school holidays impact was being blasted on radio and TV, I was retained to do the voice-over for a video that now plays on big screens at Sydney Terminal 3 security checkin (and it might be running at Terminal 2, but I haven't been over there). The script said "leave EVERYTHING in your bag". I didn't believe it, but it was recorded exactly as requested.

This is personal. I'm a technologist who routinely travels with way too much tech (because that's the gig), and at security lines I'm committed to taking EVERYTHING out so that I don't have to do the delay dance: "is this your bag? We have to check it and rescan!". Grr. But by "way too much": think 7 or 8 of those small trays with distributed... stuff. I once missed a flight in KL due to over-zealous security, and suspicion and caution runs very high.

So... how well does the new T3 process work? I've been through the scan three times in the last three weeks with a stuffed backpack and carry-on case full of cables, and guess what: through every time. No re-scans. Amazing. The voice doesn't lie!!

Compare to Melbourne two weeks ago: I was awarded a rescan despite taking everything out. Precisely same "stuff".

Yep, I'm a believer.

Tip: the western security line at SYD Terminal 3 is a dream, and almost always under-utilised compared to the main entry.

 

[Melburnian1]

At which airport did Mattg have problems with his laptop?

Uninformative not to identify the location.

 

[rigram]

I find new body scanners slow everything. Before you walked through a metal detector quite quickly, now they make you stop hands above your head - wait - scan - wait.
It now takes twice as long to scan one person. On a recent trip I noticed that airport security were conscious of long lines and passenger frustrations - so switched from "hands above your head" body scanners to the old walk through metal detectors to clear the queue backlog.
It's very inconsistent everywhere....

 

[Caversham04]

The full-body scanners are also part of the problem - they take several times longer than just walking through a metal-detector arch, and they don't seem to work consistently. I've seen false positives on a large percentage of people, which then need checking, but I've never seen a true positive after the person is frisked.

 

[ambrosia]

Does anyone else suck in their gut when they get full body scanned??
Went through CBR, SYD x2, DOH, LHR x4, BSL, AMS, SIN x2; 4 weeks travel in May/June, and every single time I was secondarily patted down after scan. Some were cursory, some very thorough. No belt, jewellry, implants etc but do wear an underwire bra.

 

[sqrt()]

The full-body scanners are also part of the problem - they take several times longer than just walking through a metal-detector arch, and they don't seem to work consistently. I've seen false positives on a large percentage of people, which then need checking, but I've never seen a true positive after the person is frisked.

I have some titanium and wires in my right arm but the hotspots are always around my ankles, where I don't think I've ever had surgery.

 

[Nukie]

Since I had my knee replaced, it doesn't matter what I take off, put in a tray or through the scanner....I get the full treatment and explosives check.

Yes me too. Pat down, wand over and shoes off, plus checking them in assorted machines

 

[ThePointyEnd]

Improve airport security by getting people through quicker.

If staff and machinery are the issue then they obviously need to rethink their strategy.

There's very little consistency between airports. Laptops, liquids, aerosols, belts, shoes. Different requirements depending on the airport or scanner used.

Yes you can blame people for not being ready but if you have to make sure that all your pockets are empty, stand in front of scanner for 10 seconds then wait for someone to interpret the data and if you're like me 2 hotspots show up even though nothing there so waste more time.

There has to be another way. You can't expect people to turn up to airport 5-6 hours before their flight, wait in long queues and people are still missing flights.

Can I ask a silly question? In all this time have they actually caught anyone planning to do something bad?

Once John, many years ago!

 

[ThePointyEnd]

Such a simple but brilliant solution Matt. Now all you have to do is find an industry person who gives a cough, and that's the real problem.

 

[Steve N]

I like the sign idea, but it would need to be on nearly every bollard, left & right, in the lead-up to the Security checkpoint. Maybe they could employ some more staff to walk the line to remind people, that haven't read/comprehended the signs, what to take off/out.
The full body scanners always seem to pick up something on my body, there never has been anything in the hotspots shown.

 

[Mattg]

At which airport did Mattg have problems with his laptop?

Uninformative not to identify the location.

If you must know, it was Lisbon.

 

[wombatpatties]

Matt, a brilliant idea, and well worth Alan Joyce looking into providing these everywhere in all airports in Australia. People react quicker to pictures these days, and this is desperately needed.

By the way, what are the requirements in Tullamarine Melbourne? and will changes happen again in 6 months when I leave?

 

[themaiz]

Agree Matt… better signs are needed. I’m not liking the new ‘auto’ scanners much… your bag gets shunted off to the side and it’s hard to know why it’s breached the rules

I can't see how the new scanners are any different to the old process in that regard. It's still hard to know why a bag has been bounced. The key difference is that now they will have to take EVERYTHING out of a bag where, with the older system, regulars would have disassembled a bag and contents prior to placing on the conveyor.

I didn't find the body scanners to be a problem.

Re signs: I'm fully in favour of signage. The video is a form of signage, but it's most likely to be useful when there's a queue and passengers can take it in. But let's be practical: when there's no queue, chances are that no sign would be seen by a newb traveller, regulars won't need it so much, and when there's no queue there's less pressure on time. With any luck it balances out.