New lanes will speed up security checks at airport

A new security screening line for families at the Colorado Springs Airport will aim to shorten delays and ensure other travelers get through the airport's security checkpoint faster.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration began offering the new family and medical liquids lane Thursday at all 450 airports where the federal agency handles security screening.

It is for families, people unfamiliar with air travel procedures and travelers with special needs who want to go through the checkpoint at their own pace. People carrying medically necessary liquids, aerosols and gels in containers larger than three ounces will also be directed by screeners to the new lane.

The lane is part of nationwide program TSA launched as a test in February at Denver International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport that offered travelers a choice among the green family lane, a blue casual traveler lane and a black diamond expert lane for business travelers who fly several times a month. The three-level program then expanded to 48 of the nation's busiest airports.

The agency wants passengers to decide which lane to use based on their familiarity with TSA screening procedures and whether they have special needs. Since the program began, expert lanes are handling an average of 21 percent more people in the same amount of time they did before the program. The number of times travelers have set off screening alarms in the family lane has dropped by an average of 11 percent because passengers aren't as rushed.

TSA expanded the program to reduce screening delays during the Thanksgiving season, traditionally the busiest travel period for the nation's airports. Passenger numbers at the Colorado Springs Airport are expected to begin increasing today and peak on both Wednesday and Nov. 30, said John McGinley, the airport's assistant aviation director for operations and maintenance. Security wait times are expected to be 10 to 15 minutes.

Airports nationwide may not be as crowded this year as they were a year ago. Local bookings for the Thanksgiving season are down between 5 percent and 10 percent as a result of concerns over the economy, said Lothar von Wolfseck, station manager for American Airlines in the Springs. Some families may choose to travel only during the Christmas season rather than both Thanksgiving and Christmas, he said.

AAA Colorado forecasts higher air fares and fees and fewer flights will result in a 5.5 percent decline compared with last year in the number of Americans traveling by air in the western U.S. during the Thanksgiving season to 1.2 million. The group expects the number of people traveling by auto during the same period will fall 2.9 percent to 6.9 million, but that number may grow if the state's gasoline prices continue declining.

Travelers using the Springs airport will also be able to save time when leaving the airport's parking lots by using one of seven automatic pay stations opened Monday at the exit to the airport's parking lots. The stations work much like automated teller machines and accept cash and credit cards.
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