It's not that difficult. Having traveled by air numerous times with the team and for personal reasons shows pretty much everything you can do at the airport to save time as well as pass security. (e.g. my mom thought we had to leave 2 hours before departure at O'Hare and Boston Logan, but we had an hour to burn at the gate each time...)
- Have your ID ready and reachable at ALL TIMES. They check it at check-in, security, and on boarding, and if everyone has to take a minute to reach it, it can slow things down.
- Know exactly what's in every bag, especially if you're checking a bag or box for your team. Check-in personnel will ask what's in non-suitcase baggage, and if you don't know they may have to resort to opening it. Don't worry about tools and pieces of metal and the like. As long as it's declared and safely stowed (and isn't part of the illegal materials list...and it mainly concerns explosives and chemicals), it should pass. One suggestion is to have the contents taped to the box, or the person who packs it checks it.
- At security, know how you're going to get everything through security. By the conveyors, they have taken airline food storage trays (yes! they really are!) and placed them there for use though the conveyor. Have your personal items on one tray(wallet, keys, etc...you might be able to pass them around the metal detector), your laptop in its own tray, your carryons, and your jacket/coat.
- This has already been said many times, but if you're chosen to be searched, don't complain and do exactly as they say. Laptops' ports and keyboards are usually swabbed and scanned, and for bag checks point out all pockets. Searches are mostly conducted at security and boarding, so keep this in mind.
And thus ends my long and extremely thorough tips for saving time at the airport. Although you can probably tell that I must have been extremely bored to type all this... oh well
See you all in Florida, and have a safe flight!