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Savvier passengers and increased efficiency are reducing lines at checkpoints.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
UN-PACKING PILOTS. FLIGHTS CAN-celed because of terrorist jitters. Stepped-up scrutiny of foreign visitors.
Air security has made for nerve-racking headlines lately. But here's the day-to-day reality: For the typical traveler running the security gantlet at U.S. airports, little has changed in the last year. If anything, the process has become easier, observers and frequent travelers say.
You may still languish in a security line or two during busy times, especially at major hub airports such as Los Angeles, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta and O'Hare in Chicago. But the hours-long delays that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks seem to have passed.
During the recent holidays, the security system passed a big test, surprising skeptics. Despite a high (orange) nationwide security alert declared before Christmas and the most air traffic in two years, passengers waited, on average, less than 10 minutes to get through security checkpoints at most airports, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
"It's getting a little more efficient," David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a passenger advocacy group, said of the security process. "People are getting to know their jobs better. ... There's more uniformity."
Passenger education
Terry Trippler, air traveler advocate for the Internet site www.cheapseats.com, agreed. "The TSA is much better organized," he said. "Things are working much better than any of us thought they would."
But Trippler, a frequent critic of the airlines, attributed much of the improvement to passengers. "The biggest change, without a doubt, is the air traveler, who is much more educated, much more cooperative," he said.
After more than two years of stepped-up security, savvy passengers often arrive at checkpoints, belts and shoes in hand, with no forbidden items in their carry-ons -- or at least fewer of them. With fewer secondary searches, lines move faster.
Not every flier is clued-in or well-intentioned, of course. The TSA found more than 6 million prohibited items at screening checkpoints last year, including nearly 2 million knives, officials say. And some rules remain confusing. But overall, passengers seem to be adapting.
Policy changes
Here are some recent changes in everyday security practices and policies:
UBoarding passes. More than 70 percent of the nation's 429 airports now require a boarding pass before you go through security checkpoints in some or all of their terminals. At these airports, e-ticket receipts, itineraries and vouchers are no longer acceptable, the TSA said.
The number of boarding-pass-only airports is rapidly growing, up from fewer than 60 in January 2003. Rather than guess which location requires a boarding pass, it's wise just to get one. You'll save yourself time if you print out your pass from a self-service kiosk in the airport or your computer at home or work. More and more airlines offer one or both options. Visit their Internet sites to learn more.
The change in boarding-pass requirements is part of the TSA's drive to concentrate security at the checkpoints and reduce random screening at airline gates, which, Stempler said, "really annoyed people." It should, at any rate, speed the lines.
UA second chance. At some airports, you may be allowed to walk through metal detectors a second time if you set off beepers instead of being sent to a secondary screening point, said Nico Melendez, TSA spokesman in Los Angeles. The agency began phasing in this time-saving measure before Christmas.
UShoes. Before entering a checkpoint, "you're not required to take off your shoes," Melendez said, "but you're highly encouraged to." That's the gist of a policy the TSA issued last summer. Many shoes contain steel shanks or thick soles, which can set off the metal detectors and trigger a secondary screening.
The TSA issued the policy because some checkpoints were requiring shoes to be removed and some not. Shoes have been subjected to special scrutiny for more than two years, ever since Richard Reid, the Al-Qaida "shoe bomber," was accused of trying to blow up a Paris-to-Miami flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.
UNationwide alerts. These have added more layers to security strictures. During the latest orange alert, declared just before Christmas and lifted Jan. 9, LAX banned curbside drop-offs and pickups and began random searches of vehicles at airport entrances. An orange alert indicates a "high risk of terrorist attacks," the government says.
Each airport has different security needs and responds differently to alerts, the TSA's Melendez said. Don't expect to know all the details on what each does.
"We don't want to provide a road map ... [in case] someone wants to game the system" to threaten air traffic, he said.
When it comes to security, it's no longer true that if you've seen one airport, you've seen them all, as jaded travelers used to say. Now it's "if you've seen one airport, you've seen one airport," Melendez said.
The moral: Arrive at least two hours before domestic departures and three hours before international ones. Add an extra half-hour or more during security alerts.
Computer screening
Meanwhile, the biggest change on the horizon is the computer-assisted passenger prescreening system. Designed by the TSA to reduce secondary screenings and misidentifications, it would require passengers to provide date of birth and other data for checking against private and government databases.
The TSA plans to test the system this winter and spring and implement it for the busy summer season. But the plan has already drawn protests from privacy advocates, passengers and airlines concerned about customer backlash and lawsuits.
Whatever happens, travelers will no doubt fly through the storm. After more than two years of turbulence, they have proved they can.