Passengers no longer have to take off their shoes when they pass through the Transportation Security Administration.
That was just one of the pieces of news Brian Kelley, stakeholder manager for TSA at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, shared with the attendees at the Aubrey PointBank Business Breakfast on July 10.
“Terminal F, which you might have heard about, the number of gates at Terminal F—anybody care to guess?” Kelley said. “Originally, a month and a half ago, it was 15 gates. It’s now grown to 31 gates, and then it also didn’t include checkpoint lanes, security lanes, but now it is going to have 24 at one location so you don’t have to travel to five different terminals to get on a plane.”
He also touched on the recent announcement that “you don’t have to take your shoes off anymore going through the checkpoint,” he said.
“It should really … minimize the time it takes for you to go through the screen,” Kelley said.
He also spoke about the overarching responsibilities of the agency, established after Sept. 11, 2001, and with which he has worked for almost 23 years.
“I was a pat-down guy, but that has improved with technology also, so less of it,” Kelley said. “And more coming down the pike. … The goal is, of course, touchless. That is down the road.”
He added that he’s “been fortunate to stay at DFW.”
The TSA is enforcing the use of REAL ID, Kelley said, which has rolled out smoothly since May.
“We’re at 94% across the country of compliance with the REAL ID, way further along than we had anticipated,” he said. “… Biotechnology is here; it’s going to continue— facial recognition, all of the things for those that travel.”
He suggested that people planning to travel via TSA-monitored means download the app via tsa. gov for advice on how to pack items that could cause security concerns.
“It is very improved over the last 23 years information-wise out to the public, any and all things about travel,” Kelley said. “How to prepare for it, how to pack a gun.”
Improper packing could mean major consequences, which he’s seen happen to friends and colleagues of his. The TSA not only maintains the security of the nation’s airports but also other forms of transportation.
“We also cover freight rail, pipeline, highway and motor carriers, mass transit and passenger rail, air cargo, federal air marshals, general aviation and passenger aviation, which you already know,” Kelley said.
After his brief presentation, he opened the floor for questions to gear the remainder of the conversation to the things that interested the people in attendance, which included “what are some of the most common things, besides guns, that get confiscated?”
“Drugs, which we’re not there to police the drugs,” Kelley said. “Knives. People bring in these fake grenades that literally through an X-ray machine, they look like a grenade, so we’ve gotten that. … People come in with fake guns, plastic toy guns, but they look real.”
