Airport Moving Baggage Screening Back To Lobby
By Laurie Ciprianol.cipriano@krdo.com
COLORADO SPRINGS – The TSA will no longer have to manually sift through your checked bags at the Colorado Springs Airport. The airport is getting ready to install a new system to give you a higher level of personal privacy.
“The system that we have in place at the Colorado Springs Airport right now involves a technology that requires every bag to be opened you swab the inside of the bag,” said Mark Earle, Director of Aviation for the Colorado Springs Airport. “Then you analyze the swab for traces of explosive.”
The old technology is being replaced with new Explosive Detection System (EDS) machines, which can detect explosives and other potentially hazardous materials. The machines will use CT technology to scan every bag.
“The plus for passengers is that not all the bags have to be opened. In fact very few bags will be opened,” said Earle. “The bags will be scanned and the only bags that will be opened during this process will be those bags where a problem has potentially been identified by the scan machine.”
The new, automated system is expected to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the checked baggage screening process for travelers. Construction of the new system is underway on the lower level of the terminal. The project is expected to be complete in 18 months. In the meantime, three temporary inspection machines will be located in front of the ticket counters, beginning Monday, April 5th.
“The interim solution in the lobby there will be far fewer bags opened,” said Earle. “But it does bring the screening back into the lobby, which is something that we saw in the airport two to three years ago.”
The total price tag is expected to be more than $20 million dollars. According to Earle, no local tax dollars will be used in the funding of the new system. The airport and the TSA will share the cost.
