Earlier this week Delta revealed a gift to the TSA at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport: a pair of security screening lanes Delta calls “Innovation Lanes.” Delta spent over two months and around a million dollars on the Innovation Lanes which have the goal of speeding up the security screening process in two ways:

• allowing up to five passengers at a time to step up to the conveyor belt to offload personal items into the bin rather than waiting one-at-a-time
• feeding screening bins back to travelers underneath the conveyor belt so now TSA agents won’t have to stack them by hand, put them on a cart, and push them back to the other side

In a marketing video released by Delta, Gil West, Senior Executive V.P. and Chief Operating Officer, suggests the new systems should “double the productivity of every lane.”  However, this new system is only being used in two of the 28 checkpoints in ATL. Many are reporting that this system is already in use in airports throughout Europe.

In the 1 minute and 26 second video released by Delta earlier this week, Delta describes the Innovation Lane more in-depth and said they have “cut through the red tape”:

Bottom Line:

It’s already a busy summer, and increasingly long lines have become the new normal at the nation’s busiest airports. While modifications in the screening process, such as these two new Innovation Lanes, are steps in the right direction, it remains to be seen if the TSA is going to adopt this process.  And if they do – will it be too little, too late? My opinion is that this video makes Delta look like a public relations firm that just happens to fly airplanes.

In the meantime there is always TSA Pre✓^® , which might be able to salvage your summer of standing in long TSA security screening lines. Global Entry also provides you a TSA Pre✓^® number, but with a longer application process.