susiesan

How is this going to work if you start your journey in a smaller oversees airport that does not have direct flights to the US?

Example: Depart BCN Barcelona on IB to Madrid, MAD to ORD.

Do I have to leave the secure area while transiting at BCN and go back though security again? Do I have to claim my bags and check back in through the new better scanners? I have this flight BCN-MAD-ORD coming up in October and I only have 1 hour to connect. There are thousands and thousands of people with already purchased tickets based on connecting times in place at the time of the ticket purchase. The rules are being changed in the middle of the game. I foresee many missed connecting flights if they were already tight timewise.

RealHJ

Secondary screening at the gate. Probably "enhanced" from what is being done already for US bound flights.

Silver Fox

Yes, it is somewhat devoid of any information in the slightest. In fact I almost choked on my goat milk almond flavoured decaf latte when I read "agile enemy". I cannot escape that psychobabble "agile" new way of working. It has expanded even to the terrorist community so I am beginning to feel some sympathy for them. No wonder they choose suicide.

But, there is no information, we have to trust in them as I am sure that we all do. But please don't anyone mention WMD. And of course if they did tell us what the measures were then it would give the game away to the agile enemy. So, it's all about trust issues and a few swabs hither and thither and a few extra benches with different bored security people asking me what the purpose of my visit is and me having to resist saying anything that would deny me boarding.

At the end of the day it will all be fine and we shall exeunt stage left and move on to the next act once the scene shifters have weaved their magic. Break a leg everyone!

N1120A

Honestly, I think this is all pretty much an admission that they screwed up and an attempt to walk back the policy without losing face (which is, as we all know, something the current "administration" is keenly interested in). Far too many US business people use the ME3+1 these days, let alone all the Euro carriers/airports that they were talking about extending to, to really make this practical, and the danger of electronic fires was much too risky. If one plane had an incident because of this, there would be major hell to pay.

I do think it is likely that we are going to start seeing a return to the second check before US flights, which used to be more common, instead of just having a single, more rigorous check when going into the US portion of any terminal.

On another note - I flew through DOH to the US last week. I had to go through 2 security checks (including one at the gate), a wand frisk after not setting off the machine, had bags examined, and still had to hand over my Surface in the box they provided. It is ridiculous, and semi-hilarious, that DOH is somehow considered not a safe airport to handle laptops and the like.

cafeconleche

My family are flying FRA-SFO on Sunday. My daughter and I, US citizens, my partner, German. I am also a little antsy about what the new measures will be, and how that's going to affect travel with a 2-year old and the stuff that we carry for her.

GUWonder

Other than more and/or more extensive secondary/gate-area/jetbridge searches and perhaps more intrusive questions, can't say it would be any worse than the worst of what I've seen last year too.

TomMM

Where did we land at the end of the day after "defending" ourselves from "WMD"?

GUWonder

With more "foreign" terrorist attacks from that neighborhood and more rampant paranoia at airports around the world.

whitearrow

If the idea of the banning electronics altogether test balloon was to make us more accepting of anything else they want to do, I have to say -- it succeeded, at least with me. Any of the nonsense they're planning is better than a ban or ridiculous and impractical limits. It still sucks, but at least not enough to make me cancel plans.

wco81

Saw A clip of Kelly on some Fox News show. They were talking about increased ICE enforcement to deport people.

Kelly was claiming a lot of criminals were being deported and then some non criminals. He cracked that the non criminals "were not exactly valedictorians" and he and the hosts yoked it up at that comment.

That's the mentality of the guy making these policies. These generals were suppose to be the adults in the administration.

richarddd

Are general aviation airports or private planes exempt from the existing electronics bans and the proposed new requirements?

quillbin

Flew LIS-PHL 10 days ago. The security at LIS was not so much night and day from TSA at PHL but was different. Shoes on, WTMD (I assume they have pat-downs instead of a MMW Scanner at random/for pax that alarm) and electronic devices bigger than a smartphone in a separate x-ray bin.

So any of these "enhancements" (Electronics Swabs, Liquids checks for places that don't already have a 3-1-1 type restriction, ID verification) will probably be done at the gate or CBP pre-clearance if such facilities exist.

Fredrik74

I feel as though the latest proposals were a way to back down from the threat. Notice the relative lack of details and that suddenly afterwards a couple of airports in the Gulf are good again.

wco81

Saving face?

Fredrik74

Yes, exactly.