You may notice some changes the next time you board a flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The most noticeable ones are planned for security checkpoints in early 2016. Other less noticeable changes have already happened, partially due to a report—first published by ABC News in June—which found that Transportation Security Administration screeners missed 95 percent of the fake bombs and weapons that a testing team tried to sneak through the system.
"TSA in the past, recent past, likely was a little too focused on moving passengers through the line," TSA Federal Security Director for Minnesota Cliff Van Leuven told a Metropolitan Airports Commission committee at a Monday meeting.
Van Leuven detailed changes already implemented by the TSA, including an additional eight hours of training for every TSA agent and making sure no one goes through the PreCheck line without being pre-approved.
"We've got to detect the threat first and foremost," Van Leuven told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS after the meeting.
He said the changes could cause the airport's security lines to move a little more slowly, at least until some other planned changes go into effect.
Starting early next year, there will be two main security checkpoints in Terminal 1. The first is an already-existing six-lane checkpoint at the South end of the terminal. The second will be a brand-new, 10-lane checkpoint at the north end of the terminal, where restaurant Hot Dish was once located.
"I think it's going to take away some of that confusion as people come into the lobby on busy mornings or busy evenings and they can't figure out exactly where to go," Van Leuven said.
In the meantime, if that wait at security is a little longer than you'd like, now you know why. The TSA has both safety and speed in mind, but they say safety has to come first.
Story and video: http://kstp.com
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