Logan Airport Is the Best in the Nation, the TSA Says

It was named "Airport of the Year."


A plane leaves Boston Logan Airport with the city skyline in the background

Photo via iStock/SPO123

Let’s face it, the security screening process is not fun. There are about a million things I’d rather do than wait in a line, take my shoes off, pose in a full-body scanner, and subject myself to all the other inconveniences that come with being checked for weapons and drugs and whatnot.

But, comparatively speaking, if you’re going to do it, you could do a lot worse than Boston’s Logan Airport. That’s according to the TSA, anyway, which has named Logan 2018’s “Airport of the Year.”

According to the TSA, Boston had the shortest wait times in the nation this summer, at about 9.58 minutes, despite Logan’s status as among the country’s fastest-growing airports. About 1,500 people work for security at Logan, doing everything from inspecting bags to handling bomb-sniffing dogs.

Logan has been a testing ground for new technology, for example a set-up run by JetBlue that can scan your face instead of scanning your ticket, and the TSA has heralded its new CT scan system and automated screening lanes. It has also managed to find “a record number of firearms at the airport in FY18,” according to a release from the agency, and it survived its busies day of all time, April 13, when it saw 75,000 travelers.

“The TSA team here in Boston consists of nearly 1,500 employees from frontline TSA officers to inspectors, canine handlers, explosives experts, managers, program analysts and a host of others who work together every single day of the year to ensure that we protect the travelling public to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce,” Bob Allison, TSA’s Federal Security Director for Massachusetts, said in a statement. “The TSA officers and the others who comprise our team demonstrate their commitment daily through their hard work, professionalism and integrity.”