An Application of Queueing Theory to Airport Passenger Security Screening

Analytical queueing models have frequently been found impractical for many types of real-world problems, owing chiefly to the inability of queueing systems to change their parameters in response to fluctuations in traffic intensity. One type of practical problem that fits the simple classical queueing models quite well, however, is the passenger security screening operation found at modern airports. These service facilities security checkpoints must always be available, the service screening procedures must be unvarying, and the airline passengers have no practical alternative to accepting this service. Careful analytical planning is needed in advance of facilities and systems design, as the results of congestion could be both serious and expensive to travelers, airlines, and airports. The application described in this paper helped our organization design passenger screening facilities for a very large international airport to be built in the Middle East.