TSA Introduces Self-Service Security Screenings at Selected Airports

Before your next flight, you might not have to show your ID or boarding pass to a TSA agent. This summer, TSA is launching advanced technology aimed at verifying travelers’ identities and flight information to enhance and simplify the security process.

“Effective identity management is crucial for transportation security, and this technology ensures that the passenger's ID is legitimate and that the person on the ID matches the individual at the checkpoint,” stated TSA press secretary Carter Langston.

Here’s what you should know about the upcoming self-service security screening technology.

Understanding the self-service ID verification process

Travelers place their ID into the machine (or scan their passport) at the Travel Document Checker station and are instructed to face the screen, where their photo is taken. The technology then matches the ID photo with the passenger's image at the podium and verifies their flight details and screening eligibility (regular or TSA PreCheck). This process eliminates the need for a TSA agent to check your ID or boarding pass. After that, travelers can proceed to the conveyor belt for their belongings to be screened.

TSA stated that passengers who prefer not to have their photo taken (biometrics have faced scrutiny over security issues) can choose to opt out and have a TSA agent manually verify their ID, with an agent available at the podium. Lorie Dankers, a TSA spokesperson, emphasized that “the photos taken are not stored and are only used for immediate identity verification.”

The TSA claims that the new technology is more effective at detecting fraudulent documents, thereby significantly enhancing the security checkpoint process.

“Biometric recognition capabilities will enhance TSA operations by improving the accuracy and reliability of passenger identity verification,” states the TSA website. “Biometrics can help automate some of the current manual processes, allowing trained screening personnel to concentrate more on alarms and resolving errors.”

Which airports are currently offering self-service TSA screenings?

Currently, self-service security screenings are available at the following U.S. airports:

• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
• Nashville International Airport (BNA)
• Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
• The Eastern Iowa Airport (CID)
• John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
• Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
• Denver International Airport (DEN)
• Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
• Des Moines International Airport (DSM)
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
• Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (GPT)
• Honolulu Daniel K Inouye International Airport (HNL)
• Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport (JAN)
• Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Miami International Airport (MIA)
• Orlando International Airport (MCO)
• Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
• Will Rogers World Airport (OKC)
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
• Richmond International Airport (RIC)
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
• Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)

According to a TSA spokesperson, only a limited number of self-service units have been deployed, and they are not available at every security checkpoint in all of the listed airports.