Lines at airports, at the ticket counter, security screening or at the gate, make air travel a stressful experience. Queues are especially problematic during peak travel periods when space and processing capacity are constrained. These are the concerns on the mind of an Assistant Federal Security Director as she plans for the expansion of flights at one of Boston Logan Airport's terminals. Space limitations restrict the number of screening lanes. Moreover, adding staff on the existing lanes staff is costly and faces rapidly diminishing returns. Nevertheless the Director must meet screening throughput and wait time targets as well as keep the line from stretching from security out the door. The director applies queuing theory to determine the art of the possible and what is feasible at Logan. The reader is introduced to basic queuing modeling and challenged to determine the optimal number of lanes and staffing of those lanes at the Logan terminal. Case number 2049.0

Efficiently and effectively providing flu shots on a college campus is the challenge that faces the school's director of health services. After a failed flu shot program the year prior and the resulting epidemic, the director must ensure students, faculty and staff receive the shot this year. Benchmarking reveals that a single day flu shot marathon has been successful on other campuses but lines must be managed to limit waiting time. The reader is introduced to basic queuing theory to determine how many shot stations are needed balancing line length and cost. They also explore the impact of peaks on line management.