Federal, state officials tackle long security lines at Kahului Airport on Maui

KAHULUI >> Outbound passengers during the peak departure window today at Kahului Airport moved more smoothly through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints after a series of changes that include the opening of additional lanes and the installation of advanced screening technology.

Perhaps the most visible enhancement at Hawaii’s second-busiest airport are the four new passenger-screening canine teams deployed to sniff out explosives in carry-on bags. Dogs were last used at the Maui airport in 2017, when they were pulled out as part of a national TSA restructuring, according to Scot Thaxton, acting federal security director for the Pacific islands.

Officials with TSA and the state Department of Transportation held a news conference to announce the “significant” improvements that went into effect today, acknowledging that the high volume of air traffic through Kahului Airport in recent months had created challenges in processing travelers through the checkpoints in a timely manner.

During the busy summer season, as many as 14,000 passengers — visitors and residents — were departing daily, according to DOT. Checkpoint lines sometimes snaked outside the terminal and onto airport sidewalks that offered no protection from the sun.

“We’ve seen a good increase in flight schedules, we’ve seen larger aircraft coming in with more volume, so we had to come up with ways … to reduce some of the wait times for passengers and (improve) the customer service experience here at the airport,” said Marvin Moniz, DOT Airports district manager at Kahului Airport.

Officials said that perhaps the most significant change is a new dedicated TSA PreCheck station, known as Checkpoint 2, located closer to the airport’s baggage claim area. Previously, security lanes for standard and PreCheck passengers shared the same space, now referred to as Checkpoint 1. Moving PreCheck to a separate area of the airport means there are now seven lanes available for standard passengers.