Airports rely on technology to cope with travel increase
WASHINGTON — The Belgian family of four was on their fourth trip to the United States. They had been dreading the long line at passport control when they entered the country but had heard about a new app they could use to ease their way and decided to give it a shot. Within minutes, they had bypassed the long line at Washington Dulles International Airport and were waiting for their luggage.
“It was always a long row,” said Piet De Staercke of the line to go through passport screening. He, his wife and two sons were visiting Washington and Chicago. “We were a bit scared. But now with the app, it’s amazing.”
As travel continues to boom following coronavirus pandemic-related slumps, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is expanding the use of technology like the Mobile Passport Control app the De Staercke family used in an effort to process the ever-growing number of passengers traveling internationally. And with events like a rare solar eclipse, the Olympics in Paris, and summer holidays still driving international travel, those numbers don’t look set to drop anytime soon.
Customs and Border Protection officials gave The Associated Press a behind-the-scenes look at some of the technologies they’ve been using and what to expect in the months and years ahead.
THE NUMBERS
During fiscal year 2023, the agency processed more than 394 million travelers at the ports of entry. That’s a 24% increase over the previous year. When looking at the country’s top 20 airports by passenger volume, officers processed 31% more travelers while average wait times increased 11%. And at some of the busiest airports, the wait times have had negligible increases or even decreased. At JFK Airport in New York, for example, wait times went down — by 0.4 of a second on average — while CBP officers processed 33% more travelers.
Increasingly, people are traveling internationally with their families rather than going abroad alone for business.
MORE APPS
Officials are moving more toward app-based technologies to speed passengers’ movement through the airport. The Mobile Passport Control app used by the Belgian family is one example. It’s available to U.S. citizens, but also to lawful permanent residents, certain Canadians and travelers from countries who are part of the Visa Waiver Program who’ve already been to the U.S. at least once.
Passengers upload their photos and information to the app. When they enter the screening area, they get routed to a separate line. The officer then just needs to take a photo of one member of the family and it pulls up the entire group’s photos and their information.
CBP launched the app in 2021 but is trying to get more people to use it, including by working with airlines to let the app to be downloaded in flight and putting up signs at airports to inform travelers. Last year, a record 4.1 million people came into the country using the app.
“Any second ... we can (shave) saves time because it adds up eventually,” said Marc Calixte, the top CBP official at Dulles.
Last September, the agency also created an app for passengers who use Global Entry. That’s one of the “Trusted Traveler” programs CBP runs that allows certain low-risk passengers who make an appointment for an interview and submit to a background check to travel through customs and passport control more quickly when they arrive in the U.S.