Business

New system at airport to speed up baggage screenings

November 30, 2007 at 4:58PM

Ken Kasprisin, Minnesota federal security director for TSA, talked about the new hands-free baggage checking system at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport officially inaugurated a fully automated baggage screening system Thursday . The $50 million system screens 5,000 checked bags per hour for explosives -- twice the current rate -- according to the federal Transportation Security Administration. It will operate initially with Northwest Airlines' baggage handling system, and will eventually connect to all carriers. For travelers, it is means faster check-ins and finding fewer hand-checked bags when they arrive at their destinations.

H.J. CUMMINS

TSA employee Scott Hartfield put a bag back into the system after hand checking it as a part of the new in-line baggage screening system at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)