AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Airport security has been completely revamped over the last 11 years, since the attacks of 9/11.
Recently, there've been a ton of complaints nationwide with T.S.A. and the pat-downs they give you when you go through security.
It's been reported nationwide how invasive and ridiculous some of the T.S.A. pat-downs can be.
Luckily with a new high tech scanner, those pat-downs won't happen in Amarillo anymore.
One week from Tuesday, the new Advanced Imaging Technology system will be delivered.
"Homeland Security has been deploying these units throughout the country and I'm sure they had some sort of priority list based on utilization threat, that sort of thing," said Director of Aviation, Pat Rhodes.
Rhodes hopes this unit will get people through security quicker, making things more efficient, or as he says, a little more pleasant.
"It should make it a little more comfortable by giving passengers the opportunity to be subject to pat downs and that sort of thing, so I think it increases the efficiency which arguably will make things more secure."
Some passengers think the new machine could be just as invasive as the pat-down, because of the imaging the scanner produces.
"I have no issues with it, I mean at the end of the day I want to get to where I'm going and where I'm going back to safely, so I have no issues with it," said Frequent Flyer, Tom Gilbride.
The A.I.T. brochure says the officer who assists the passenger never sees the image the technology produces, and the officer who views the image never sees the passenger.
As far as the machine's efficiency goes, Rhodes says he has heard things from both those who do like it and those who don't.
"I've been told by some airport people at other airports our size that it takes longer to get through the scanners and some say it's faster, so I think time will tell as far as how it affects the flow of passengers here."
The A.I.T. handout we got also says the machines cannot store, print, transmit, or save the image.
We are told Advanced Imaging Technology screenings are safe for all passengers, including children, pregnant women, and people who have medical implants or prostheses.
