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Houston Airport System
February 15, 2008
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Two leading figures in politics and homeland security are praising George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) for its progressive use of technology, innovative security programs and impressive growth.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), chairwoman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection, along with Kip Hawley, administrator for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), made a rare joint visit to IAH, this month.
They were joined by Rick Vacar, director of the Houston Airport System, and a host of federal security representatives and airline officials, as they toured parts of the airport and focused on a range of security measures including the mobile Threat Containment Units now positioned at the TSA security checkpoints in all terminals at both Bush and William P. Hobby airports.
The first-of-its-kind unit, which debuted nationally at IAH, is designed to quickly allow security personnel to remove suspicious items from the checkpoint area without a disruption or halt to operations.
“The way we look at it, it is better to evacuate the problem not the building,” says David Williams, assistant director of public safety at IAH. “When you look at it, these units represent good security and safety measures and when you calculate the cost of having to close down a terminal and delay flights and operations, these units not only help us with safety but allow us to offer better customer service as well.”
The innovative, paperless boarding pass technology being tested at IAH also took center stage as Lee and Hawley announced the program's expansion.
The technology allows the airlines to electronically transmit two dimensional bar codes containing the passengers’ flight information and identity to either a cell phone or PDA.
TSA officers then use handheld scanners to validate the authenticity of the paperless boarding pass sent to the passenger. The program is designed to save time and paper. |
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© Houston Airport System
High Praise. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and TSA honored Bush and Hobby airports. |
“Well it’s a pleasure to be in Houston. Houston is known far and wide as a center for innovation,” remarked Hawley during a news conference. “It is a wonderful thing to see here today the equipment and the technology that allows the cell phone to work as a boarding pass, but really the innovation of the people working together to put solutions together that work.”
Continental Airlines developed an implementation plan that involved encrypting the data and the TSA created the concept of how to scan and authenticate the information.
“The first concern is that it is not forged and that we would have a reliable way of assuring that it was indeed genuine. Using (the) key encryption approach ensure(s) a very, very, very high level of security,” said Congresswoman Lee. “We are always looking for a unique way to provide transportation in the most efficient way for our traveling public.”
Continental Airlines is the only domestic air carrier offering the technology which is exclusively available to passengers traveling through IAH.
Lee and Hawley discussed several other new security programs and pledged to return to Bush Intercontinental in the coming months to highlight the Model Port initiative, Houston’s growing list of international passengers and destinations, along with the TSA’s impressive performance processing travelers through the security checkpoints at IAH, even during peak travel periods.
Hawley congratulated IAH specifically for a smooth holiday travel season during which he says 97 percent of the millions of passengers at the airport cleared TSA screenings in less than fifteen minutes.
Lee and Hawley also toured Houston’s Metro Transportation System at the state of the art Houston TranStar Center, and visited Texas Southern University, which has established a Transportation Security Center of Excellence.
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