12-06-2013, 12:13 PM
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013...story.html
Glass pods replace security guards at 2 airports
By Carolyn Thompson and John Kekis
| Associated Press
December 02, 2013
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Now you have to pass through security to leave the airport.
Futuristic unmanned portals have replaced officers at the security exits of two small Northeast airports, adding a few seconds in a bulletproof glass pod to the end of every passenger’s trip.
The rounded exits at the Syracuse and Atlantic City airports prevent passengers from backtracking into secure areas once they exit the plane and keep outsiders from entering through the exits. Travelers step into the elevator-size cylinders and wait as a door slides closed behind them. After a couple seconds, another door opens in front with a female voice coolly instructing, ‘‘Please exit.’’
‘‘I don’t understand those doors,’’ said Cindy Katz, of Jupiter, Fla., who came through the Atlantic City airport for the Thanksgiving holiday. ‘‘What are they supposed to do? It slows everyone down.’’
They could be the wave of things to come as the Transportation Security Administration prepares to shift exit-monitoring duties to local airports next year as a way to save $88.1 million. The doors’ manufacturer, New York City-based Eagle Security Group, Inc., says it is in talks with other airports.
The technology saves airports from having to put paid security staff at the exit checkpoints. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who is pushing to keep the TSA in charge of exit monitoring, says such staffing could cost Philadelphia International Airport about $2 million a year.
Glass pods replace security guards at 2 airports
By Carolyn Thompson and John Kekis
| Associated Press
December 02, 2013
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Now you have to pass through security to leave the airport.
Futuristic unmanned portals have replaced officers at the security exits of two small Northeast airports, adding a few seconds in a bulletproof glass pod to the end of every passenger’s trip.
The rounded exits at the Syracuse and Atlantic City airports prevent passengers from backtracking into secure areas once they exit the plane and keep outsiders from entering through the exits. Travelers step into the elevator-size cylinders and wait as a door slides closed behind them. After a couple seconds, another door opens in front with a female voice coolly instructing, ‘‘Please exit.’’
‘‘I don’t understand those doors,’’ said Cindy Katz, of Jupiter, Fla., who came through the Atlantic City airport for the Thanksgiving holiday. ‘‘What are they supposed to do? It slows everyone down.’’
They could be the wave of things to come as the Transportation Security Administration prepares to shift exit-monitoring duties to local airports next year as a way to save $88.1 million. The doors’ manufacturer, New York City-based Eagle Security Group, Inc., says it is in talks with other airports.
The technology saves airports from having to put paid security staff at the exit checkpoints. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who is pushing to keep the TSA in charge of exit monitoring, says such staffing could cost Philadelphia International Airport about $2 million a year.
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