Hartsfield-Jackson Looks To Speed Up Customs With Automated Kiosks
U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s Atlanta Port Director Stephen Kremer greets Tim Dooher of Minneapolis just minutes after Dooher stepped off a flight from Monterrey, Mexico.As heard on the radio
Kremer’s there to walk Dooher through using the international terminal’s newest addition – automated passport control kiosks. The port head instructs Dooher to scan his passport into the reader so the machine can gather information like his name, date of birth, citizenship and passport number.
After scanning his passport, snapping a photo and answering some customs questions, Dooher is heading for his connecting flight home.
“Typically I spend about half an hour, 45 minutes waiting in line,” Dooher said. “This was two minutes. Pretty good use of time.”
Hartsfield-Jackson officials introduced the new automated passport control kiosks Monday, but the machines were officially unveiled Thursday. The blue, self-service booths are aimed at speeding up the customs wait time while also freeing up customs officers.
“This new initiative is a critical element in improving overall customer service at the airport, and I’m thankful for the strong partnership we have with the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency,” said newly appointed airport manager Miguel Southwell in a prepared statement.
Dooher’s quick move through customs is what Port director Kremer calls “the ideal.” He said the new kiosks could reduce wait time at airports by 20 to 40 percent while also improving security.
“It frees us for looking at people that we really want to spend time with and then let the other folks go that we’re not interested in, or what we would consider lower risk,” Kremer said.
Once travelers scan their passport into the kiosk, their information is verified with flight data to confirm identity. Travelers then receive a receipt indicating whether they can head to a final inspection or need to talk with a customs officer for a secondary inspection.
Only U.S. and Canadian citizens and those coming from countries under the U.S. visa waiver program can use one of the 74 new kiosks. Others will still go through the traditional customs process.
Similar kiosks are already in place in Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, Orlando and 11 other North American airports.
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