New Automated Security Lanes Open at O'Hare Airport

The new lanes are not completely automated as a TSA worker will still be on hand to review images of the contents of bags on a monitor

Just in time for the holiday travel season, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport unveiled a new screening process that allows travelers to make their way through security faster. 

The new system includes three “innovation lanes” that use 3-D technology to scan bags with automated belts and cameras. The lanes look the same, but airline officials say they are a whole lot better.  

Additional tasks typically performed by Transportation Security Administration workers such as returning bins and diverting bags that have been marked for additional screening will also be automated in the new innovation lanes, allowing travelers to continue to flow through the security lines without interruption. 

innovation lanes
NBC 5

Two of the new innovation lanes opened last week in American Airlines’ Terminal 3, with an additional three opening Monday in United Airlines’ Terminal 1. 

Travelers using the new lanes will reportedly move through security on average of 30 percent faster. 

O’Hare Airport is the first to unveil the new system, with rollouts expected to follow in Dallas, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Miami. 

It's no coincidence the new system is in place just as Thanksgiving and holiday travels are about to begin. Airline officials are aiming to avoid scenes seen during the spring and summer vacation season after a shortage of screeners led to massive security lines with a wait time of up to two hours. 

The new technology also may make it possible to leave liquids and laptops in your carryon bags, but in the initial rollout TSA have not yet made changes to the current travel regulations.

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