SITA to help improve passenger experience at US airport checkpoints

SITA’s sophisticated queue management system being adopted as part of $48M improvement program.

In a move to improve passengers’ experience and allow TSA Officers to focus on security related tasks at airports, the Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin using the queue management system provided by SITA, and its technology partner Bluelon. This system automatically measures and displays the wait time of passengers.

The solution uses Bluetooth technology to measure the passenger traffic patterns at TSA checkpoint lines. SITA’s anonymous monitoring technology means that only traffic patterns and movements are analyzed and individuals are not identified. This approach respects privacy issues while delivering highly relevant and usable information to both passengers and TSA. Communication with passengers will be improved as wait times will be displayed in real time on screens at each checkpoint.

Paul Houghton, SITA President, Americas, speaking at the company’s offices in Atlanta, said: “TSA is continuing to improve the experience for passengers at security checkpoints in US airports. SITA’s air transport industry experience allows us to help the TSA work more effectively in this environment. In North America, close to 50 airports serving more than 845 million passengers use SITA’s technology to run efficient operations and we know that passengers don’t want to wait in line; Our technology measures and displays just how long they are waiting.”