Getting through the nation's airport security checkpoints is about to get much easier.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will deploy 300 3D scanners at airports nationwide in an effort to enhance security and dramatically improve the passenger experience.
This week, TSA announced it has entered into a $98.6 million contract with Smiths Detection, Inc. of Edgewood, Maryland for 300 Computed Tomography (CT) systems and associated ancillary equipment and services over five years.
The agency currently uses CT technology to screen checked baggage and began piloting it at two airport checkpoints in 2017. Deployment is scheduled to begin this summer and be completed in 2020.
"These state-of-the-art 3D scanners will enable our screening officers to detect explosives and other threats to commercial aviation with unprecedented precision," TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement. "The nation's transportation systems are now better off-more secure, as a result of their [Congress'] work on funding this technology."
Pekoske told CNN that the biggest benefit for passengers will be not having to separate their electronic devices from their carry-on bag. Within a few years, passengers likely won't even have to fret over how they pack liquids, gels and aerosols either.
"It's essentially a response to a large and growing travel public every year," TSA Press Secretary Jenny Burke told CNN. "The goal is to keep people safe and provide a better passenger experience."
Earlier this month, TSA officials said they would screen an estimated 107 million passengers and crew members during the spring break season between March 14 and April 28, an increase of more than three percent compared to the same period last year.
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