CATSA testing new, improved security system in Montreal, in Calgary later in October

OTTAWA— The agency that oversees airport security is testing a new way of screening that it hopes will ease the backlogs and hassles endured by travellers.

Known as CATSA Plus, the new system features motorized rollers to help move bins, a remote room where agents monitor the X-ray images and an automatic return system that ensures a steady supply of bins.

It also has a redesigned area where passengers can collect and repack their belongings after screening.

“This was designed to improve the passenger experience and the flow of passengers through the checkpoint,” Mathieu Larocque, spokesperson for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA). The agency installed the new arrangement on a single security line at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in mid-August.

“Early results show it’s very positive of the flow of passengers and passenger satisfaction,” Larocque said.

The new process will get a bigger work- out later this month. That’s when six security lines begin operating in the new international terminal at Calgary’s airport.

Larocque said that CATSA took advantage of the new building to help design the space from the start for the new screening process, which has a bigger footprint than existing security checkpoints.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates Pearson International Airport, estimates that CATSA needs $60 million in capital funding to implement the improved screening system across the country in 2017 and 2018.