Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN) - The summer travel season is here, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is ready for the largest influx of travelers at airports across the country, ever.
The TSA is expecting the highest passenger volumes the agency has seen at airport security checkpoints nationwide during this summer’s travel season, which began this past Memorial Day Weekend and runs through Labor Day.
Just last week alone, the TSA set records, including the busiest day in the agency's 22-year history when 2,951,163 people were screened at airport security checkpoints nationwide on Friday, May 24.
"Actually during the month of May alone, this very month, five of the top-10 days in our 22-year history happened in this month. So it's crowded out there," said Lisa Farbstein, TSA spokesperson in an interview with WBEN. "We do expect that at some point during the summer, we're probably going to see some days top 3 million passengers nationwide."
According to Farbstein, Buffalo typically screens in the neighborhood of 7,000-7,500 people a day, but that's expected to climb between 8,000 and 9,000 people over the next few months of summer travel.
If you're heading out for a trip this summer, Farbstein has some helpful tips to make your travel experience a bit easier. This starts with making sure you're at the airport early, well in advance of your flight.
"The busiest time at the airport, actually, is very, very early in the morning around 5 o'clock, 5-7 a.m. ET. That's because so many people are connecting flights elsewhere, and that's because a lot of people are thinking, 'I want to start my vacation as early as possible, so I'm gonna get there early,'" Farbstein said. "I think people are under the false impression that the earlier you show up, the less crowded it is, when actually the earlier you show up, the more crowded it is. So we want people to get to the airport early."
Farbstein also points out the importance of knowing what you can and cannot pack in your carry ons or luggage before getting to the airport.
"Know what is in your carry on bag. If it triggers an alarm, you get pulled to the side, your bag gets pulled to the side, and the TSA officer has to open it to resolve the alarm. That slows you down, it's going to slow down everybody," she said. "So you want to make sure you don't have anything prohibited in your carry on bag."
There are a number of ways to determine what should go in the checked bag and carry on bag,
"Visit our homepage - tsa.gov - in the homepage, upper-right corner, 'Can I bring?' Click on that, type an item, it'll tell you just where to pack it. We also have a free downloadable app, it's called 'My TSA' and has that same handy feature, 'Can I bring?'," Farbstein detailed. "We're also very active on social media. You can tweet us a question to @AskTSA, you can do the same via Facebook Messenger, you can tweet your question to us, text your question to us, and you'll get an answer pretty darn quickly. So use that to your advantage. Whether you're packing at 6 a.m. or whether you're packing at 2 a.m. or packing at noon, you can have that all at your fingertips if you download the free My TSA app."
In addition, the TSA at the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport has new technology available to them at security that confirms the validity of a traveler’s identification and confirms their flight information in real time.
This deployment is the latest generation of Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) to verify the identity of travelers. First generation CAT units are designed to scan a traveler’s photo identification, confirm the traveler’s identity as well as their flight details.
"You're going to be asked to hand your ID to the TSA officer, whether it's a license, a passport, whatever your ideas. The unit will snap a picture - there's a tablet, you look at the tablet, it's going to snap a picture - and within a few seconds, it will be able to determine if it's a valid or fraudulent ID," Farbstein explained. "We want to make sure that the face of the person standing there matches the face of the person on the ID."
The new CAT units, referred to as CAT-2, have the same capabilities, but are also equipped with a camera that captures a real-time photo of the traveler. CAT-2 compares the traveler’s photo on the ID against the in-person, real-time photo. Once the CAT-2 confirms the match, a TSA officer verifies and the traveler can proceed through the checkpoint, without ever exchanging a boarding pass. The photo is then deleted.
The CAT-2 units are equipped with cameras on tablets and are used to match the face of the person standing at the checkpoint with the face that appears on the traveler’s ID such as the person’s driver’s license or passport. The technology enhances detection capabilities for identifying fraudulent documents at the security checkpoint. The photos are not saved and are only used to match the person standing at the travel document checking podium with the photo on the ID that is being presented.
As an additional feature, the unit is touchless meaning that the passengers insert their ID and do not have to hand it to a TSA officer. Thus the units reduce touchpoints and speed the process. Travelers insert their ID, look at the camera and if the ID is validated, the traveler then proceeds into the checkpoint. Even with TSA’s use of these units, travelers still need to check-in with their airline in advance and bring their boarding pass to their gate to show the airline representative before boarding their flight.
Photos captured by CAT-2 units are never stored or used for any other purpose than immediate identity verification.
"If you're uncomfortable having your photo taken, that's OK. Just tell the officer you want to opt out, and the officer will turn off the camera and we'll validate your license the way we were doing it before we had this camera option. We do not save the images, that's important to know as well. Once you go through, we don't need the image anymore so it's deleted," Farbstein said.