TSA to Pilot Self-Checkout-Style Screening Process at Certain Airports

Passengers flying out of Las Vegas in the near future could wind up screening their own luggage at a self-service kiosk that resembles those seen in grocery stores and fast food restaurants.

A new Transportation Security Administration pilot program will ask fliers at Harry Reid International Airport to scan their IDs and carry-on luggage "at individual consoles or screening lanes themselves," the program's manager, Dr. John Fortune, wrote in a statement.

It means that some fliers would make it through security "with minimal to no assistance from Transportation Security Officers (TSOs)," the TSA explained.

Fortune said the kiosks would allow TSA officers to prioritize busier screening areas, cutting overall wait times.

"The feedback we've already received during testing from both mock passengers and TSOs has been incredibly positive," Fortune said.

The pilot is only open to members of TSA PreCheck and other "Trusted Traveler" programs. Those programs allow passengers to pay a fee to skip the typical line and instead go through an expedited security process at most of the nation's largest airports.

PreCheck passengers aren't typically required to take out their laptops or liquids or remove their shoes or jackets, as is the case with most other fliers.

About 89% of people who use PreCheck make it through security in less than five minutes, according to NerdWallet.

A five-year membership usually costs about $78, although some credit cards and hotel loyalty programs offer points toward PreCheck application fees.

At least three companies are currently developing various styles of self-screening prototypes through the TSA's "Screening at Speed" program, which looks to boost the efficiency of airports' much-maligned security checkpoints.

One system would reportedly scan fliers "in real-time" as they walk through various security checkpoints.

The program being tested in Las Vegas would ask passengers to place their bags through a conveyor belt, with live TSA officers offering assistance via a help button.

In a move that has some privacy activists concerned, the administration has reportedly begun testing out using facial recognition technology in at least 16 airports. The TSA insists that the program is, at this point, entirely voluntary.

The TSA will begin testing the new systems, developed by Georgia-based company Vanderlande Industries, as early as January.