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It's airport screening at your own pace
'Family lanes' you see at Hobby are rolling out across the nation
By Houston Chronicle
November 11, 2008

Just in time for Thanksgiving, "family lanes" that will enable people moving through airports to go at their own pace instead of being rushed through security checkpoints are being rolled out nationwide.

A pilot program featuring lanes designated for families, expert fliers and casual fliers has been in place for months at Houston's Hobby Airport, but by Nov. 20 will be expanded to the bigger George Bush Intercontinental Airport, along with others around the country.

Bostonian Mike Ghelli, traveling on business Tuesday at Hobby, said he thinks the program is a good idea.

"I think it works well in the airports I have been at," said Ghelli, who travels on business one week a month. "If you take the time to read the signs, it puts less stress on families and less stress on the business people."

That's exactly what it is supposed to do, noted Jim Marchand, who oversees Transportation Security Administration operations at Hobby.

"Families feel a lot more relaxed, they don't feel as rushed because they don't have a businessman behind them who is in a hurry," Marchand said. "It just makes everybody feel better; the intent is not necessarily to speed things up, but to make people feel more comfortable, more relaxed."

The new lanes will be permanent. Another measure introduced last year to speed holiday travel by temporarily opening military airspace to commercial airlines so more planes can get in the sky has so far not been reinstituted.

Travelers who use the new lanes often are helped by TSA staffers, at least at busy times. Those employees direct people either to the family lane, a lane designed for casual travelers or another one just for "expert travelers," including frequent fliers familiar with the ins and outs of the screening process.

When it is not busy, travelers will select whatever lane they think is appropriate for them, Marchand said.

Some travelers moving through Hobby on Tuesday seemed confused at having to choose a particular lane.

"What is an expert?" one traveler asked a TSA screener. A sign at Hobby explains that an expert traveler would be someone who flies more than twice a month and travelers who know how to be ready by doing such things as removing their shoes, sending laptop computers through outside their cases and properly stowing correct amounts of liquids, aerosols and gels.

The family lanes also are designated for travelers with medically necessary liquids, aerosols and gels of more than the allowed three ounces, as well as for travelers with special needs and people unfamiliar with air travel procedures.

Passengers carrying items like baby formula, insulin, cough syrup, contact lens solutions and prescription medications will undergo additional screening, according to the TSA. That screening usually will take less than two minutes to ensure the items do not pose a threat, the agency said.

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