HONOLULU — As the summer months begin and more individuals and families start their travels, the Transportation Security Administration advises travelers to be prepared for busier security checkpoints in airports.
The TSA announced Thursday that it set a single-day record Sunday, screening 3,013,413 people at security checkpoints nationwide.
During the first six months of this year, TSA officers at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport screened over 5 million departing travelers, a 4.7 percent increase from the same period in 2023, which had over 4.7 million travelers. In 2023, TSA at the Honolulu airport screened 9,841,600 people through its security checkpoints.
The second-busiest airport in the state is Kahului Airport on Maui, which saw over 1,500,000 passengers in the first six months of this year. The lowest passenger count was at Hilo International Airport, with only 374,820 passengers during the same period.
TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that most passengers traveling through Honolulu airports are international travelers or leisure passengers from the mainland.
Dankers noted that while the airports in the state look different from most passengers’ home airports, the majority of passengers are “compliant and very good with the security procedures.”
In 2018, the Honolulu airport launched a pilot program with new Credential Authentication Technology used at security checkpoint entrances, eliminating the need for travelers to present a boarding pass. A government-issued ID or passport suffices.
Since 2023, additional units of the CAT have been installed throughout the Honolulu airport, totaling 29 units — 25 of the first generation and four of the latest generation, known as CAT-2. The Honolulu airport is the only one in Hawai‘i utilizing the CAT-2 units.
The CAT-2 units use facial recognition technology for identity verification of travelers, eliminating the need for TSA officers to manually verify travelers’ identification.
While some screening lanes have these units that ease identification verification, others do not, so TSA advises all travelers to remain prepared by having both photo identification and their boarding pass ready.
For the security screening portion of TSA, the Honolulu airport recently introduced a new computed tomography X-ray scanner alongside the regular X-ray scanners already in use.
Similar to those found in hospitals, the CT scanner generates a 3D image of the contents of each bag, significantly enhancing screening capabilities.
According to Dankers, there is only one CT scanner in Hawai‘i, which cost $175,000.
Dankers envisions a future where only CT scanners are used, aiming to elevate and streamline the security process.
Despite new technologies, TSA requires travelers in general screening lanes, except those under 12 and over 75, to remove their shoes.
There are 14 TSA canine dogs in Hawai‘i trained to detect explosives, with 10 stationed at the Honolulu airport and four at the Kahului airport.
“The dogs are stronger than technology, and their capabilities are endless through training, deployment and through other experiences,” Douglas Spencer, an explosives detection canine handler, told the Star-Advertiser.
Spencer said his K9 — a 5-year-old named Xaira — takes its job “very seriously” and has been highly trained to patrol the airport.
Spencer, who has been Xaira’s handler for four years, noted that Xaira had alerted him to certain travelers who were subsequently directed to undergo additional screening. However, he did not comment on whether those travelers had violated any laws.
