BOSTON (WHDH) - Technology that confirms the validity of a traveler’s identification and confirms their flight information in near real-time is now being used by Transportation Security Administration officers at several security checkpoint lanes at Boston Logan International Airport.
Boston was one of the first airports in the nation to test Credential Authentication Technology scanners last fall before they were rolled out to other airports, according to the TSA.
The TSA says it currently has 25 CAT units in use at Logan Airport.
“The technology enhances detection capabilities for identifying fraudulent documents such as driver’s licenses and passports at checkpoints and increases efficiency by automatically verifying passenger identification,” the TSA’s Massachusetts Federal Security Director Bob Allison said in a news release. “The system will also confirm the passenger’s flight status in near real-time through a secured connection.”
When a traveler hands a TSA officer their identification, the officer places it in the CAT unit, which scans it and informs the officer whether the ID is valid, according to the TSA. Travelers who approach the TSA travel document checking podium do not have to show their boarding pass because the new CAT unit verifies that the traveler is prescreened to travel out of the airport for a flight.
Travelers still need to check-in with their airline in advance and bring their boarding pass to their gate agent to show the airline representative before boarding their flight.
CAT units can authenticate more than 2,500 different types of IDs including passports, military common access cards, retired military ID cards, Department of Homeland Security Trusted Traveler ID cards, uniformed services ID cards, permanent resident cards, U.S. visas and driver’s licenses and photo IDs issued by state motor vehicle departments.
The TSA says it plans to have more than 500 CAT units deployed at over 40 airports nationwide by the end of February.
The CAT units will not accept a driver’s license after Oct. 1, 2020, if it is not REAL ID-compliant.
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