Security changes coming to Logan Airport include new E-gates, scanners to "digitally unpack" bags
By Amanda Callahan, WBZ-TV
Changes are coming to Boston's Logan International Airport as the TSA works to make passenger screenings faster and more secure.
Airport security can seem tedious, waiting in long lines, digging for your ID in your bag, unpacking your laptop, and waiting your turn to have a 3D body scan. But soon that might be a thing of the past.
"We have kept the skies safe, but as we look forward to the next 25 years and beyond, it's incumbent upon us to be more fast and agile than our adversaries and potential threats," TSA Administrator David Cummins said.
Newly appointed to the role, Cummins said he's focused on making travel more efficient and more modern with new technology. Coming soon to Logan Airport, you will be able to scan yourself right into the security checkpoint if you have TSA PreCheck.
"You're going to have E-gates with facial comparison technology where you can keep your driver's license and your boarding pass in your pocket and just walk on through the E-gate and then put your bag on a 3D scanner. That is going to digitally unpack the bag," Cummins said.
Travelers without TSA PreCheck can expect to see faster security lines too.
Cummins said, "We also are going to be doing that walk-through body scanning technology, so you won't have to raise your hands in the air as you have in the past."
In another major rollout announced Monday, people enrolled in TSA PreCheck will be able to accompany ticketed travelers to the gate or wait at the gate for an arriving passenger.
"If you have, let's say, a teenage son that's flying in, that you can go and greet them as they're getting off the plane. This is something that the public has asked for, for many years," said Cummins.
This is a major change since before the 9/11 attacks, when people were free to go past the security checkpoints. Right now, only 13 airports have adopted this program. A Logan Airport spokesperson said they are monitoring the program's success to see if they will eventually opt in.
