Jessica Mayle, regional spokesperson for the TSA, explained some of the process at a media event Thursday and gave pointers for getting through the airport quickly and without incident.

Mayle said one of TSA’s goals is to take the mystery out of air travel. She explained when travelers know what to expect, the whole screening process goes quicker.

Officers screen passengers to make sure they don’t have prohibited materials and to determine their risk, with their primary focus on items that can “take down a plane – that could do real damage,” Mayle said. Their overall focus is to make air travel safe.

Mayle said a lot of research goes into decisions about how to screen passengers.

Ben Pifher/MDN Jessica Mayle, regional spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration, after speaking with members of the media on Thursday, stands in front of 3D scanning CT machines which help officers inspect baggage.

“It’s not about inconveniencing passengers. It’s all really all rooted in safety.” she said.

Finding the balance between security, timeliness and dealing with threats is a challenge, but Mayle said “the TSA is up for it.”

“We’ve really ramped up our technology in the identity verification space,” Mayle said. Users have their photos taken at the airport, which are run through facial recognition software and compared to their Real IDs. May 7 is the TSA’s enforcement deadline, after which a Real ID or a passport will be required to fly, making identification of passengers easier.

TSA is using CT machines instead of X-rays in many airports. Mayle said these machines allow officers a 3D look inside bags to identify objects. The more that officers can identify objects without opening a bag, the fewer time-consuming bag checks there are.

Mayle said when travelers can see themselves and others getting screened thoroughly, they feel safer.

“Even in places that don’t have this (technology) yet, we still have technology working and our staff is trained,” she said. She said significant resources go into training TSA officers, including a several week long academy, mock airport security areas in Washington, D.C., and career-long on the job training.

Mayle said many TSA officers at airports aren’t working at the gates. She said there are seen and unseen layers of security, with officers checking baggage and conducting other security tasks at the airport.

By using TSA PreCheck, passengers can speed up their screening processes, Mayle said.

The TSA wants to know who is traveling and bases its screening – in part – on how much it knows about a traveler.

“We want to devote our resources into screening the passengers we know the least about,” she said.

Passengers submit fingerprints and a background check through TSA PreCheck. It is then determined whether to enroll them in the expedited screening program, Mayle said. They also use a system called Secure Flight, in which passengers are checked against trusted traveler lists to identify their risks.

The program costs $78 for five years, Mayle said, and there are perks, including being able to keep articles of clothing such as light jackets or shoes on through the screening process.

Checking baggage cutoff times also is useful for passengers with larger bags. If passengers miss baggage cutoff times and try to board with oversized luggage, they are turned around at the gate and asked to go back to check their bags.

Most commonly, liquids are confiscated or discarded, but Keith Howell, a TSA officer in Minot, brought forward a box of prohibited items voluntarily discarded over the last few weeks. The items included a pair of dragon-themed brass knuckles, a self defense keychain, several knives, loose 5.56mm rifle cartridges, a 9mm pistol cartridge and a training 9mm “dummy round.” Each one of these increased the wait time for other individuals going through screening.

Another way to speed things up is to arrive early. Mayle said arriving 90 minutes early is a good rule of thumb, even at smaller airports, because it gives time for TSA officers to resolve any issues that may come up.

“Giving yourself enough time is such a big help,” Mayle said. It can help people reduce the stress of worrying about making a flight, she said. Allowing spare time can even help passengers resolve their own issues – for instance, allowing time to move any prohibited items back to their vehicles.

“Doing a little bit of work at home while you’re packing saves you so much time at the checkpoint,” Mayle said. Passengers can go to the TSA website and use its “what can I bring?” tool, which lists prohibited items. She said aerosols and liquids are often confiscated at gates.

“Don’t bring anything through the checkpoint that would slow you down or slow other people down,” she said.