Officials expect new measures to cut airport lines in half | News, Sports, Jobs

Kahului Airport passengers pass through TSA screening Thursday. State and federal transportation officials hope that changes at the airport, including the addition of screening lines and more efficient screening equipment, will help cut down the lines that have been trailing through the airport all summer. The Maui News MATTHEW THAYER photos

KAHULUI — Officials are expecting that new security screening lanes, along with recent additions of canine teams, high-tech verification systems and special scanners, will help cut down the massive lines at Kahului Airport that have kept travelers waiting for more than an hour, at times standing curbside in the sun.

Another lane has been added to “Checkpoint 2” next to the arrivals escalators near the middle of the airport. It is now a dedicated TSA PreCheck Checkpoint.

This now leaves the main screening area or “Checkpoint 1,” with seven lanes all for standard screening, rather than having lanes set aside for PreCheck.

“We are very confident right now that it will be reduced in half,” Scot Thaxton, acting TSA Federal Security Director for the Pacific, said of the lines.

Thaxton, along with other TSA officials and state Department of Transportation officials, unveiled the latest changes on Thursday to help ease lines as a busy Labor Day travel weekend begins.

Thaxton

“With sustained travel volumes becoming the norm, and no indication that this trend will end, we worked closely with the Hawaii DOT to come up with solutions,” Thaxton said during a news conference.

He added that between the two checkpoint areas, TSA will be able to change the type of screening offered throughout the day based on the projected number of travelers and whether they’re eligible for PreCheck or standard screening.

“This change is being made to increase the efficiency of checkpoint operation while maintaining our security posture, which results in providing a better experience for the traveler,” Thaxton added.

Marvin Moniz, Maui District Airports manager, estimated that in August during peak times, as many as 4,500 travelers may go through security screening. He had previously said that crowds have been due to various reasons, such as airlines increasing their flight schedules for the summer right in that 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. window (when lines got long) along with airlines bringing in larger jets to the airport.

“As you know it was quite a ride for the last few months, processing thousands of passengers a day, and thank you for coming to Maui,” Moniz said. “With that said there was lot of partnerships involved to make improvements that was needed to accommodate all these passengers, locals as well as visitors to the islands.”

Passengers wait in line to pass through the TSA screening at Kahului Airport Thursday morning.

Moniz said there were challenges getting materials to the island and workers put in overtime to make the improvements. This included a 200-foot tent put up last month that was purchased by the airlines to shade travelers as they wait in the lines. Maui County’s Mayor’s Office also assisted with a 120-foot-long rental tent.

Moniz also thanked the travelers and the public for their patience.

“I’m happy to say we are going to make it work,” Moniz said.

Thaxton also identified other improvements that will help with lines and screening.

Machines have been installed that use “credential authentication technology” to verify a traveler’s identity. Otherwise referred to as “CAT units,” the machines scan photo IDs of travelers into a system and match them to a database of ticketed travelers during a 24-hour period. There is no need to show a boarding pass.

Maui-based TSA explosive detection canines, Rozsdi (right) and Alfa, both 2-year-old German Shorthaired Pointers, are presented to the public Thursday morning during a news conference at Kahului Airport. The dogs and their handlers make up two of the four canine teams that will be checking bags and passengers for explosive materials at the busy airport.

The units can identify photo IDs that are fraudulent or have been tampered with.

Moniz said after the news conference that not needing to have boarding passes out with these machines also shortens wait times and lines. He said that at times bar codes on boarding passes may not be readable or travelers may have picked up the wrong boarding pass, which all adds to delays.

Passenger screening canine teams have also been added recently to help with security screening at the checkpoint. The dogs are paired with a TSA handler and are trained to sniff out explosives and explosive components and notify the handler. The teams have undergone more than 16 weeks of intensive training at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas. They have also completed additional training at Kahului Airport to acclimate to the airport environment.

TSA officials said the canine program had been used before and is now being brought back to the airport. The canines are also used on Oahu.

The canines stationed on Maui are Rozsdi, Joa, Alfa and Molly. Joa is the lone Labrador, while the rest are German Shorthaired Pointers.

Moniz explained that the canines are able to sniff out explosives or a hint of explosives, and if a traveler is in line, he or she can be pulled away for further screening. He said this helps because these issues are caught before the travelers are near the checkpoints, which could impact the lines.

During a media tour, Thaxton pointed out the two computed tomography scanners to screen travelers’ carry-on luggage. They provides additional capabilities for TSA officers during the X-ray screening process, including generating a 3D image of the contents of the bag. The extra visibility allows the security officer to resolve potential security threats on-screen and reduce the number of bag checks needed.

He added that with these machines, travelers can leave everything in their bag, including electronics larger than a cellphone and travel-size liquids.

There are currently two of these machines at the airport, with hopefully more to come, Thaxton said. The first two were installed in February 2020, he added.

News and photos of the long security checkpoint lines had Pukalani residents Rose and John Naeole arriving about three hours prior to their flight at around 2 p.m. Thursday.

“The lines itself, the TSA is crazy,” John Naeole said.

He felt the tents don’t really help, but “the whole area needs to be revamped.”

Around 11 a.m. Thursday, TSA lines did not reach curbside and were contained in the terminal, leaving the tented area empty.

Even with the addition of more screening lanes and the possibility of lines being reduced, alleviating the need for the tents, Moniz said the tents will be kept up. This will provide shade for those waiting to pick up passengers or those waiting for their rides.

TSA said the busiest times at Kahului Airport security checkpoints are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The busiest days to travel are Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Lower travel volumes are generally seen on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The airport has longer-term plans to add five more screening lanes on the side of the airport closer to the entrance, near the United ticketing counters.

The project is currently in design and will take around two years to be up and running, officials have said.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

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