PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Transportation Security Administration is testing a new translation tool at Philadelphia International Airport to help its agents and travelers better communicate.
The handheld devices are part of a pilot program being run at 10 airports across the country — TSA officers have been using them at PHL for the last two weeks.
A TSA officer or traveler can speak into the device and it will translate the message into the selected language. The devices can translate phrases in 83 different languages and keep up to 10,000 commonly used translations, like "Where's my gate?"
"This avoids that miscommunication that not only we deal with on a day-to-day basis, but also is going to help our international travelers have a more positive experience,” said TSA Deputy Federal Security Director Christine Assili.
TSA Spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says five devices are in use at the airport.
"We want to see how it's working,” Farbstein said. “And so it is, of course, in the international terminal, and it's at the other checkpoints where we see the largest throughput of passengers."
Agent Julio Rodriguez said while agents speak many languages, the devices have come in handy, especially on nights when he's the only Spanish-speaking person there.
Away from the security lines, employees at PHL have also started wearing badges that let travelers know what languages they speak.