TSA's New Plan: 'Walk-Through' Security

Imagine a world in which you're allowed onto your airplane without ever having to flash your ID, take off your shoes, take out your laptop, or walk through a metal detector. That's the future the TSA envisions with a new planned security process, though it's admittedly still seven to 10 years away. "We see it as a walk-through process," says a rep for the International Air Transport Association. It could first be put in place in Newark and New York's LaGuardia, as Port Authority officials plan for new technology to be used in new terminals planned at both airports.

The process would involve passengers being identified through biometric finger or eye scans, screened for weapons via remote machines and sensors rather than a metal detector, and assessed for threatening behavior via video cameras and special software. The New York Post describes it as simply walking through a hallway, rather than being subjected to the typical lengthy line. It comes on the heels of an IATA report last year that concluded, "We cannot treat our passengers like they are the terrorists we are trying to protect them from." (More TSA stories.)