Dallas Fort Worth International Airport has been assigned an active role in the future of the nation’s transportation system.

Last week, the Transportation Security Administration announced the world’s fourth-busiest airport in terms of operations has been designated as an official Innovation Task Force site.

According to a release, the Innovation Task Force aims to be a driving force behind improvements in overall transportation security effectiveness and efficiency.

“DFW Airport has a long-standing relationship with the TSA and our team looks forward to hosting demonstrations of new technology that will explore how to make airports more secure while improving customer experience,” Chad Makovsky, the airport’s executive vice president of operations, said in the release.

He noted the airport’s recent installation of 10 automated screening lanes to speed up checkpoints as well as its current collaboration with TSA in DFW’s Airport Operations Center to foster new ideas and respond to customer needs.

PARTNERSHIP AIMS TO IMPROVE SECURITY VIA PILOT PROJECTS

As an ITF site, DFW is now eligible for pilot programs to test and refine new technologies and processes.

Steve Karoly, assistant administrator of the TSA Office of Requirements and Capabilities Analysis, said the partnership with DFW Airport could lead to greater security at airports.

“With this partnership, we can find new ways to work together to improve all aspects of aviation security.”

Steve Karoly

“With this partnership, we can find new ways to work together to improve all aspects of aviation security,” he said.

In a blog last month on the TSA website, Administrator David Pekoske wrote that the agency must be vigilant in protecting airports and passengers.

“We know that aviation and transportation hubs remain high-value targets for terrorists, and that their modes and methods of attack are much more decentralized and opportunistic than ever before,” Pekoske wrote. “That is why, to stay ahead of the evolving threat, we spent much of 2017 adjusting our posture and becoming more agile, more creative, and more proactive. We also maintained a keen focus on security effectiveness and made significant advances in our security capabilities, through innovative processes and technologies.”

DFW Airport hosts more than 66 million customers each year. Airport customers can fly to any of the 173 domestic and 57 international nonstop destinations worldwide served by the airport’s airlines.