NBC News: Do Syracuse airport's new exit portals mark arrival of police state?

2013-05-10-db-Airport1.JPG
 
Christina Callahan, Syracuse aviation commissioner, said new exit portals were installed at the airport as part of a $60 million upgrade, which also included the new security lanes shown here.                                             (Dick Blume | dblume@syracuse.com)
Tim Knauss | tknauss@syracuse.com By Tim Knauss | tknauss@syracuse.com The Post-Standard Email the author | Follow on Twitter on November 18, 2013 at  9:19 PM, updated November 18, 2013 at  9:45 PM
 
 
 
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- In a brief segment on NBC Nightly News this evening, anchor Brian Williams drew attention to the puzzling, futuristic new exit portals at Syracuse Hancock International Airport, saying critics are calling them the "official arrival of the police state.''
2013-11-18-tk-pods.JPGThis still image from a video by NBC News shows the exit portals at Syracuse airport.NBC 

But to Syracuse aviation commissioner Christina Callahan, they are just fancy doors that will save the airport money. As part of a $60 million renovation this year, the Syracuse airport installed exit portals that passengers must pass through to depart the airport. Passengers enter a see-through, elevator-like enclosure as one door closes behind them, then wait up to a few seconds until a green light flashes and the door in front of them opens to let them out. "You're not allowed to just leave the airport,'' Williams reported. Callahan said the purpose of the portals is only to prevent anyone from coming back  the other way into the terminal area, without passing through the normal security checkpoints for passengers boarding flights. The portals do not scan passengers as they exit. "It isn't another layer of screening that passengers go through to leave the airport,'' she said. Installing the portals has allowed Syracuse to eliminate a security job at the exit lanes, which formerly were monitored either by a TSA employee or an airport security officer, Callahan said. Over the long run, the airport will save money as a result, she said. Atlantic City's airport also has exit portals, Callahan said. Other airports are expressing interest, because TSA recently announced that it will no longer provide security for airport exit lanes, she said. "We've had inquiries from other airports about how they work,'' she said. "They're working great."  Some passengers find them puzzling the first time through, however. "It's a learning curve,'' Callahan said.

Views: 11

Reply to This

© 2024   Created by Raliegh Jones Jr..   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service