If asked what customer experience they would relish significant improvement in the most, it’s fair to say that a large majority of people would respond: Air travel.
United Airlines and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently announced plans to further modernize the airport security experience at several of the airline’s largest hubs, which marks the latest phase of an ongoing, collaborative strategy between United and the TSA to increase efficiency at security checkpoints and provide greater convenience for customers when applying for expedited screening.
Customer complaints related to air travel occur on a daily basis, something airlines consider all the time.
“We are working every day with the TSA to develop and launch innovative ways to improve the airport experience for our customers,” said Greg Hart, United’s executive vice president and chief operations officer. “These improvements demonstrate United's commitment to use the latest technology to ensure our customers have a reliable and enjoyable experience every step of their journey.”
As part of a joint initiative to improve the overall screening experience for customers, United, in collaboration with the TSA, will install state-of-the-art, automated security lanes, add permanent TSA Precheck enrollment centers at convenient locations and redesign security checkpoints at several of the airline's most-frequented hub airports.
United will debut the automated lanes at Newark Liberty International Airport, the airline’s premier Trans-Atlantic gateway, this fall. When United, in collaboration with the TSA, completes the installation, the entire centralized security checkpoint at Terminal C in Newark Liberty will feature 17 automated lanes. The airline plans to install additional automated lanes at its hubs in Chicago and Los Angeles later this year.
The new lanes enable up to five customers to fill their individual bins simultaneously and move through the screening process quicker, even if TSA agents need to perform additional screening on a customer further up the queue. The lanes also utilize a parallel conveyor system that automatically returns empty bins to the front of the queue.
Besides installing automated security lanes, United is building and redesigning checkpoints at several hubs throughout the airline’s network that will dramatically improve the customer experience. Key initiatives include:
Installing audio and visual enhancements utilizing cutting-edge technology in the security queuing area to provide customers with more information.
Consolidating four checkpoints into one new, centralized checkpoint at Newark Liberty.
Redesigning security checkpoints at Chicago O'Hare.
Constructing a new, state-of-the-art customer check-in area and a consolidated security screening checkpoint in Terminal 7 at Los Angeles International Airport.