The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began screening travelers on June 28 in a renovated security checkpoint at Jackson Hole Airport (JAC). The airport has reopened following a planned 11-week closure.
Travelers departing JAC will be screened through a four-lane security checkpoint that features a dedicated TSA PreCheck® lane. The checkpoint is more spacious and also features higher ceilings and updated queue space.
“TSA is pleased that air travel has returned to the Jackson Hole Airport. With a very busy summer travel season underway and increasing numbers of people traveling by air nationwide, we are poised to deliver the most efficient security in the most effective manner here at JAC,” said TSA Federal Security Director for Wyoming Richard Whitmer. “We are grateful to our partners at JAC who expertly executed the closure of the airport and timely reopening of it.”
TSA continues to use the same security technologies that were in place prior to the checkpoint renovation. These include a computed tomography (CT) scanner to screen travelers’ carry-on luggage in the security checkpoint. TSA also has three Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) units at JAC. CAT units are programmed to confirm the validity of a traveler’s photo identification and confirm flight information in real-time by matching the passenger’s biographical information from the photo ID against the Secure Flight database.
Other security technologies in the checkpoint include a body scanner, also referred to as Advanced Imaging Technology, which screens travelers for metallic and non-metallic items concealed in layers of clothing that may pose a security threat on an aircraft. There are also walk-through metal detectors. X-ray units to screen carry-on luggage; explosive trace detection units as well as a bottle liquid scanner, which is used for screening medically-necessary liquids in quantities larger than 100 ml.
During the temporary closure of JAC, TSA modified staffing and operations at neighboring airports to accommodate and screen travelers who would normally depart from JAC. Those airports included Idaho Falls Regional Airport, located about 100 miles to the west; Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport in Rock Springs to the south; Yellowstone Regional Airport in Cody to the northeast; and Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport in Bozeman to the north.
Nationwide, TSA officers are screening an average of 2.24 million people per day, which is a 20% increase over last year’s volumes, but still down from pre-pandemic 2019 levels when TSA was screening approximately 2.56 million people on average per day. TSA anticipates increasing travel volumes leading into the Fourth of July holiday period.
