Few travelers would dispute the fact that while they highly value cheap airplane tickets as well as cheap discount hotel rooms, the addition of full body scanning machines to many major US airports will add to their sense of security. Concerns however are now being raised over whether these machines will add significant congestion at airports.
The upside of full body scanners is that they look through travelers clothing to find hidden weapons.
The downside is that these machines are significantly larger than the metal detectors. Also it takes at least five times longer to scan each traveler.
These machines have a footprint that the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport does not have space for according to its operations chief. The International Air Transport Association believes that the new scanners will result in meaningful passenger delays at security checkpoints.
The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) claims that the scanners will not significantly increase checkpoint lines and promises to help find the best locations for machines at each airport.
Nine hundred and fifty full body scanners will be installed over the next two years at U.S. airports. Forty scanners are currently being used at nineteen airports, primarily for passengers deemed to require additional screening.
Most of the new scanners will be used as the primary screening method of passengers as they go through security checkpoints, with their belongings being put through X-ray machines. Travelers who do not want to be scanned will be hand searched.