gsoltso

"As new procedures are phased in, TSA officers will begin to ask travelers to remove electronics larger than a cell phone from their carry-on bags and place them in a bin with nothing on top or below, similar to how laptops have been screened for years. This simple step helps TSA officers obtain a clearer X-ray image.

It is possible that passengers may experience more bag checks, however, through extensive testing, TSA identified ways to improve screening procedures with quicker and more targeted measures to clear the bags. The new screening procedures in standard lanes are already in place at the following 10 U.S. airports with plans to expand to all airports during the weeks and months ahead:
•Boise Airport (BOI)
•Colorado Springs Airport (COS)
•Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
•Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
•Logan International Airport (BOS)
•Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
•Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB)
•Luis Muńoz Marín International Airport (SJU)
•McCarran International Airport (LAS)
•Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

In standard screening lanes, TSA officers will be stationed in front of the checkpoint X-ray machines to guide passengers through the screening process and recommend how best to arrange their carry-on items for X-ray screening. Travelers are encouraged to organize their carry-on bags and keep them uncluttered to ease the screening process and keep the lines moving. There are no changes to what travelers can bring through the checkpoint; food and liquid items that comply with the 3-1-1 liquids rule, electronics, and books continue to be allowed in carry-on bags."

https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/20...urity-measures

petaluma1

And still the only thing that makes flying any safer is secured cockpit doors, refusal to cooperate with hijackers and passenger willingness to fight back. All else is pure waste.

The U.S. “doesn't have a system to provide air security. It has a system to bother people.”
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed...605-story.html

chollie

People (mostly women, it seems) are regularly facing 10-20 minute waits for female gropers and TSA still regularly blocks pax view of their belongings (most recently when a TSO kept interfering with a woman's line of sight so her co-worker could steal cash from the pax's purse).

This is nothing more than a dishonest push for Precheck enrollment, because SFO and LAS already regularly require Precheck pax to remove electronics - because they can. TSA's selling point: enroll in Precheck or we will make you miserable.

wco81

So enhanced electronics screening is coming to US airports, regardless of destination or origin:

Meanwhile, the TSA are using ineffective behavioral screening techniques, according to the GAO and the ACLU:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...ning-tsa-says/

Buster

I wonder if this applies to PreCheck, given that you don't have to remove a laptop today if you're Pre.

MrAndy1369

Includes iPads, etc. Let's make this the official discussion thread.

https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/20...urity-measures

susiesan

Does each electronic device need it's own bin?

Does this apply to cameras? If I am traveling with 2 cameras do they need to be separated?

phltraveler

Canada has similar rules even in the Trusted Traveler lanes. It's not explicitly required, but if I don't remove all large electronics and some chargers the size of/smaller than a smartphone, my bag will get to secondary, swabbed, some of the chargers divested to a bin, and re-scanned. This occurred earlier this year and last year before the US directed foreign ports of departure to implement such measures explicitly.

I've been told that the Precheck lanes have a minimum quality for X-Ray than general screening lanes (e.g. higher resolution/clearer image) but I have no idea if that's true or not. I was told this at a small airport in the midwest where the agents are polite and generally thorough as to why they gave Precheck light instead of Pre treatment when one line was open and I was the only person in it...

BOSTravels

What will this do to the viability of the North-East shuttle (e.g. LGA)?

wrp96

The press release I saw specifically said nothing changes for Pre - still no need to remove a laptop or electronics. https://www.tsa.gov/news/releases/20...urity-measures

spd476

Will laptops have to be removed from checkpoint friendly bags? What about the power adapter? Mine is about the size of my cell phone but thicker. Will this apply to DSLR cameras and lenses too?

T8191

Not sure whether I should be cross-posting this, but TSA seem to adopting what we already do in UK ... spread the electronics out in the tray so that the screeners can see what's there.

I thought we had been doing that in UK for ages?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/check...-measures.html

Curious. As a Brit, travelling through UK airports, I've been accustomed to spreading out iPad, Kindle, chargers and cables for years.

Hey-ho, no big deal. It's not going to take more than a minute or so out of your life. But undoubtedly there will be howls of protest from the UminRites fraternity.

SanDiego1K

Do Kindles have to come out?

At least there is this:

The stronger security measures do not apply to passengers enrolled in TSA Pre✓® who are using TSA Pre✓® lanes.

Pesky Monkey

It's not a big deal on its face, but it presents one more thing the TSA can steal/break/ruin.

Often1

The UK experience is fairly routine for most other locations, e.g. all electronics, not just laptops and larger.

So long as people know the rules, they will simply unpack the items along with their laptop and the process will move along just fine.

I routinely manage to forget this overseas because I have Pre-Check in the US and thus don't remove even my laptop.

Agreed that this is a non-issue.