TSA says security upgrades at COS airport will speed up your holiday travel
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The TSA anticipates they will screen more than 39 million holiday travelers nationwide between Dec. 19 and Jan. 2, 2025.
More than 100,000 of those travelers will be going through a checkpoint at the Colorado Springs International Airport (COS). The TSA hopes those Colorado Springs travelers will have a quicker time getting screened by security due to new technology.
"What it's doing is it's automating and using technology to perform a function that was done manually by a TSA officer. It's able to do it in a matter of, less than two seconds," Lorie Dankers, a spokesperson for TSA, said.
Dankers said the new facial recognition technology, installed months ago COS, cuts out some of the human error in the security process.
Recent travelers out of COS might've noticed TSA agents ask to take your picture to compare it to the one on your ID. Dankers said the technology takes a picture of the traveler and compares facial features to the features on your ID.
Dankers says as far as the technology goes, there isn't an AI component. The real-time photo is not saved or used for purposes beyond immediate verification.
"We really like the benefits of [the facial recognition technology]. We find that travelers also like it. They feel like it streamlines that process. It's quicker for them and most people, anything that's quicker, they like to embrace," Dankers said, explaining to KRDO13 that the new technology is already seeing positive reviews.
Dankers added that you can decline to have your picture taken, and the TSA agents will do a visual comparison.
