TSA Doesn’t want you to wait in line!
TSA attempts to be innovative, dabbling in crowd sourcing— but are they solving the wrong problem?
The TSA recently released an “innocentive” challenge to help with their airport queuing and wait time issues. I submit that this is very progressive and modern approach by TSA, to use crowd sourcing as a potential solution to the problem. Unfortunately, they have tried to define the solution (or at a minimum constrained it to what they already know) within the challenge, and missed the point of crowdsourcing, which is to get ideas that don’t fit into your existing mold, and that you may not have already considered. The issue here is that the TSA is trying to solve the wrong problem. The problem at the checkpoint isn’t the queue; it’s the unpredictable arrival of passengers (sometimes in a short period of time) into the queue at the security checkpoint. This is the source of the most challenging problems at the airport like wait times, staffing and scheduling, etc. Every Monday morning, the busy airports have to put out this enormous fire of wait times and backed up security lines, and every Monday morning, it is like a NEW PROBLEM……but it has been happening for 10+ years, right on queue…no pun intended. So how you do you solve this problem….well first you need to define the problem correctly, which I have done for TSA above (remember…a bunch of people showing up at the same time…) and then you will have to really leave the comfort zone (I mean how many times can you reconfigure stanchions), and an entirely revisit the aviation travel approach used by airlines and TSA for years. The true solution will require the industry to partner and redefine the current methodology.
I submit the following as a conceptual solution (not a line by line defined solution) to the TRUE problem.
The answer: Eliminate passenger self-selection of queues and establish arrival times for each passenger…..in other words….each passenger will HAVE AN APPOINTMENT FOR SCREENING. In reality it would be a designated arrival window at the checkpoint…say a half hour, which narrows our window of uncertainty to 30 minutes instead of two hours (hard to do predictive modeling when passengers have an unlimited and undefined window of arrival at the checkpoint). Additionally when you tell them when to show up (airline needs to do this obviously) you also tell them WHERE TO GO. A simple system such as color-coded queuing system would suffice. This solution is geared towards inexperienced travelers, and the trusted population (members of Global Entry or TSA Precheck who have paid and submitted background information) can have their own self-selection location, show up when they want, and go to their designated queue and lane. This population needs this as new benefit now that non-members are also getting TSA precheck benefits.
EVERYONE ELSE needs to be told exactly what to do and when to do it. I know that sounds tyrannical but in reality, the amount of information available to a passenger is very limited….and in this case I am suggesting that we take away their worry and confusion and uncertainty about traveling by telling them exactly when to arrive and where to go when they get there. This could be implemented in simple manual form at first, or technology driven, meaning you wouldn’t be able to access a queue without scanning a boarding token (for example) and then you will be allowed in only if you were designated to be at that queue during that window of time. For example, your flight boards at 825, so you (along with others on your flight or same departure time) could be scheduled for screening between 7 and 730 and scheduled to arrive at the “blue” (for example) queue. Your boarding token will only work at that time and at that queue…. Why it will work: 1) Predicting of arrival curve can become very precise allowing TSA and the airlines to staff and schedule VERY accurately (translation, have enough screeners available and lanes open to process the designated number of passengers). 2) TSA can control the screening experience at each color-coded queue entrance, with unlimited options. This will allow TSA to further stratify screening methods for a passenger type, a flight, a destination, an aircraft…..which can all be handled using TSA’s current communication mechanism with airlines. In fact, the airline doesn’t even need to know what it means, they just need to know that the pax needs to go to PURPLE queue. The meaning of the color, or identifier used, is controlled by TSA and can be anything depending on the need at the time.
3) The queue color or identifier can also be used for efficiency purposes…for example, they may use yellow and purple queue entrances, and dump them into the same version of screening….in that case prescribing the queue is done to moderate the flow of passengers, and make sure lines don’t get too long. In keeping with the example, TSA could issuing a known quantity of purple and yellow per hour…based on a much more precise arrival curve (due to the airline issued “appointment window” for screening). The flexibility is unlimited with this concept, which is what makes it appealing. 4) The airport will know where people are; even know how many people are in the sterile area (roughly) according to their appointment times. This will also help the planning of airport “for profit” merchants such as food and beverage, or bookstores….in other words, there will never be a surprise arrival of passengers at a checkpoint or sterile area; it would be much more like controlled chaos, rather than the current chaos. 5) This will allow TSA to literally more easily identify higher risk passengers (selectees) to ensure they have been screened appropriately. They will be issued an appointment by the airline, (maybe their half hour window is a little more in advance than everyone else), and will be told to go to the BLUE queue (or whatever) where TSA will be expecting them within a short window of time. Staff can be allocated to the meet and screen the Selectee within a designated window…making it much easier to ensure they have been screened properly. 6) Passengers won’t have to guess at how long the lines will be and when they should show up. Instead of saying “arrive 2 hours before your flight”, the airline, in collaboration with TSA, could provide an appointment window for the passenger to arrive at the checkpoint between 7 and 730, this potentially could improve airline on time departure success, public transportation predictions, taxi schedules, individual travel schedules, etc. This is not a new concept, but the industry has not had the appetite to make big changes, and big decisions about this type of thing. However, with the benefits to security and efficiency, stakeholders may be willing to participate. This concept is used in other areas, especially attractions or events, where people would otherwise wait in long lines. At Mt Vernon, or Disney for example, you get an appointment for a ride or attraction, and you don’t stand around in line, you only get in line when your appointment allows, and then the line is very short and efficient, because they are prepared to handle the exact number of people scheduled. I hope TSA will give consideration to this concept. I realize it is not detailed and ready for implementation, but it is a step towards solving the REAL ISSUE of unpredictable passenger arrival patterns. There are a number of problems to be solved with this model, such as what to do with late passengers, scalability, continued space constraints, etc. however I am confident that given the benefit, stakeholders will be motivated to help solve these issues, and re-train passengers. What problem are you trying to solve?
