DC airports cut wait times 20% with homegrown AI system “Queue Hub”

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has deployed Queue Hub, a custom AI-powered intelligence platform that uses machine learning and computer vision to optimize operations at Dulles and Reagan airports. The homegrown system, which earned MWAA a 2025 CIO 100 Award, has reduced security wait times by 15% and customs wait times by 20% while helping manage over 50 million passengers annually.

What you should know: Queue Hub represents a comprehensive approach to airport operations management, built entirely in-house rather than using commercial solutions.

• The platform integrates machine learning algorithms (software that learns patterns from data), open-source object detection (technology that identifies people and objects in camera feeds), and custom AI models running on Amazon’s cloud computing services.
• MWAA chose to build the system themselves because no existing commercial product could address the wide range of operational needs across both airports.
• “It’s a living system. It’s very fluid. Things change all the time so we need a platform that could be agile, intelligent, and nimble, and that’s why we decided to build it ourselves,” says Goutam Kundu, MWAA’s executive vice president and chief information and digital officer.

How it works: The platform creates a comprehensive data ecosystem connecting multiple airport systems and operations.

• Queue Hub integrates with TSA and Customs Border Patrol systems to enable demand-based resource allocation, automatically deploying staff to the right lanes at optimal times.
• The system uses thousands of sensors and cameras throughout terminals, parking garages, and curbside areas to provide real-time situational awareness.
• Computer vision technology monitors pedestrian and vehicular traffic flows, providing forecasts to ease congestion from parking garages to gates.
• The platform manages mobile lounges at Dulles to help passengers make connecting flights, replacing what was previously a manual process.

Key performance metrics: Queue Hub has delivered measurable improvements across multiple operational areas.

• Overall wait times have been reduced by an estimated 15% since implementation.
• Dulles now maintains one of the shortest average security wait times among major airports at 10.5 minutes.
• Customs wait times have been reduced by an average of 20%.
• The system accommodates operations for more than 50 million passengers annually across both airports.

The bigger strategy: MWAA views Queue Hub as both an operational efficiency tool and a revenue optimization platform.

• “We’re trying to get people out of queues and spend more time inside our airports, which helps boost non-aeronautical revenues,” Kundu explains.
• The platform serves as “the nerve center for how we take actionable insights” while enhancing cross-functional collaboration in real-time.
• Future plans include expanding the system to improve runway availability and aircraft turnaround times to boost aeronautical revenues.

Technical architecture: The system combines multiple advanced technologies in a unified platform.

• Queue Hub uses what Kundu calls a “hodgepodge” of IoT technologies (internet-connected sensors), edge AI (artificial intelligence processing done locally rather than in distant data centers), computer vision, and sensor networks.
• The platform connects biometric systems, display systems, gate management systems, and surface management systems.
• AI models are continuously trained for seasonal, hourly, and event-based patterns, including holiday surges and weather disruptions.
• Data collection pipelines integrate flight schedules, airline staffing, baggage handling systems, and biometric data.

Industry context: Airports increasingly recognize AI-driven operations as essential rather than optional.

• “There is a definitive pivot towards leveraging AI and predictive analytics to tackle the historically challenging land-side equation — from chaotic curbsides to unpredictable terminal queues,” says Dave McCarthy, research vice president at IDC, a market research firm.
• “Airports are rapidly recognizing that investing in these intelligent, data-driven systems is no longer a luxury, but a necessity to enhance passenger throughput, optimize resource allocation, and deliver a more seamless, less stressful journey.”
• Other major airports, including Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, are similarly deploying machine learning and generative AI for operational enhancement.