Delta built the more efficient TSA checkpoints that the TSA couldn't

> Rather than having TSA agents use hand-pushed carts to bring empty trays from the exit back to the entrance of the line, the new lanes use an automated conveyor belt system.

Every time I travel and I see a TSA agent lumbering back from the secure side with a set of carts I shudder inside. That's got to be one of the most depressingly monotonous jobs.

Forget the massive efficiency angle, you could sell this as a security boost. Rather than having an individual go back and forth through the secure zone, just send the trays in one direction on a conveyor.

> And instead of having travelers stack up behind one another to drop off their belongings to be scanned, there are five different "divestment points" so faster travelers can drop off their bags and move on without waiting for a slower person in front of them.

Can someone explain this? Is it five drop off points inbound into the bag scanner per lane or the entry line splits into five lines after the outer check?

> Delta says it spent more than $1 million on the system, which it thought up and deployed in less than two months

On a federal budget scale, that's a rounding error.