In an effort to ease congestion at security checkpoints — like last year’s unholy traffic jams during the busiest season for travel — United Airlines has outfitted an entire airport terminal in New Jersey with automated screening lanes. [More]
TSA
DHS Bans Laptops, Other Electronic Devices From Airplane Cabins For Flights From 10 Airports
By 3.21.17
If you’re doing any travel to or from the Middle East, northern Africa, or Turkey in the coming months, you may not be able to work or watch videos on your laptop or tablet. A new Department of Homeland Security rule bans all electronic devices “larger than a smartphone” from the cabins of all flights coming to the U.S. from ten international airports. [More]
Stephen Colbert Puts Romantic Spin On New TSA Pat-Downs; Talks Spying With Former CIA Chief
By 3.8.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Earlier this week, the Transportation Security Administration advised that we may see more “comprehensive” pat-downs at airports. Last night, Stephen Colbert’s Late Show team placed these new security checks in a romantic context. [More]
TSA Introducing New, More Invasive Pat-Down Method
By 3.6.17
The next time you go through a pat-down at airport security, things might be a bit different: The Transportation Security Administration has a new, more invasive pat-down procedure that some travelers might find unusual. To that end, the agency is warning local police departments that they may see an uptick in reports related to these up close and personal examinations. [More]
11 Passengers Walk Through TSA Checkpoint Without Screening At JFK Airport
By 2.21.17
One does not simply walk into Mordor, mostly because of the ever-watchful burning eye of Sauron. The Transportation Security Administration might need some of that juice after eleven people strolled right through a security checkpoint at John F. Kennedy airport in New York. [More]
Can I Fly With A Turducken In My Carry-On This Thanksgiving?
By 11.18.16
As many Americans prepare to take to the skies next week for the Thanksgiving holiday, there will no doubt be those who wish to travel with their holiday-themed foods. But will airport security let your turducken aboard the plane with you? [More]
Ridiculously Long TSA Lines Could Return This Fall
By 9.19.16
Gird yourselves, travelers: although the Transportation Security Administration recently patted itself on the back for keeping security screening lines moving at airports this summer, the soul-crushingly long lines some folks experienced in the spring could be the reality again this fall. [More]
TSA: Most Travelers Waited 30 Minutes Or Less In Airport Security Lines This Summer
By 9.7.16
Remember four months ago, when everyone was cranky at the Transportation Security Administration because of epically long security screening lines at the nation’s airports? Now that the summer is over, the agency wants everyone to know that it drastically cut wait times in the last few months. [More]
TSA Reminding Passengers Yet Again That “Batarangs” Are Best Left In Your Checked Bags
By 8.3.16
Listen, the Transportation Safety Administration gets it: people like Batman, and some of those people own “batarangs,” boomerang weapons shaped like bats. But please, for the love of speedy airport security lines, the TSA is asking travelers to stop trying to pack the sharp, pointy things in their carry-on bags. [More]
You Can Take Jeremy Bentham’s Mummified Head Through Airport Security, But Please Don’t
By 7.25.16
The TSA runs a customer service line on Twitter, at @AskTSA. Most of the questions and complaints it handles are of exactly the sort you’d expect: can I bring an empty water bottle through security? What’s going on with PreCheck? This line at this airport too long!, and so forth. But its staff is dedicated, and will honestly and to the best of its ability answer any question you politely ask of it. Including, for example, the handling of certain… artifacts. [More]
United Airlines Partners With TSA On Automated Security Lines To Cut Wait Times By 30%
By 7.20.16
United Airlines is joining Delta and America on the list of carriers teaming up with the Transportation Security Administration to revamp some hubs with automated security processes in order to alleviate congestion at security checkpoints. [More]
Use Of 3D Scans On Carry-On Bags Could Reduce TSA Wait Times By 30%
By 7.5.16
For much of the spring and beginning of the summer, the Transportation Security Administration and airlines have worked — and spent millions of dollars — to alleviate long lines at security checkpoints at the nation’s airports. Today, the agency unveiled two additional measures to speed things along: computed tomography (CT) scanners to inspect carry-on bags and automated checkpoints. [More]
Now There’s An Even Longer TSA Line For PreCheck Registration
By 6.22.16
Long Transportation Security Administration lines aren’t just for airports anymore. The government agency has encouraged members of the public to sign up for its PreCheck program to speed things along as security lines got longer, and the problem is that the public listened. Now they’re facing long waits for approval in the program, which requires a background check when you first enroll. [More]
Would You Sign Up For TSA PreCheck If It Was Cheaper?
By 6.2.16
The Transportation Security Administration continues to try to wriggle itself out of the tough spot it’s found itself in, with passengers, airlines, lawmakers, and airport officials chiming in on excessively long wait times at security checkpoints in our nation’s airports. In an effort to cut down those lines, the agency has been trying to push more people to enroll in its PreCheck Program — but is the cost keeping travelers from signing up? [More]
Chicago Officials: TSA Wait Times Have Dropped To Less Than 10 Minutes At City’s Airports
By 5.27.16
After weeks of excessively long lines at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints plagued travelers going through Chicago’s airports, the city’s officials says wait times are down to less than 10 minutes. [More]
Airlines Have Spent More Than $12M To Cut Airport Security Lines
By 5.25.16
The unofficial start of the busy summer travel season kicks off this weekend, with more than 231 million passengers expected to crowd the nation’s airports. That is, if they don’t miss their flight because of long security lines. In a bid to ensure that doesn’t happen, the country’s largest domestic airlines are shelling out big bucks — think $12 million and up — to alleviate congestion at security checkpoints. [More]
Airline Official Says TSA Cut O’Hare Security Wait Times Down To 10 Minutes
By 5.25.16
It seems some of the Transportation Security Administration’s efforts to ease long lines at security checkpoints at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport have worked: according to one airline official, wait times at O’Hare have been cut down to only 15 minutes since TSA moved 100 part-time officers to full-time status last week, and brought in four more bomb-sniffing dogs. [via Chicago Tribune] [More]
TSA Replaced Security Head While You Were In Line At The Airport
By 5.24.16
The Transportation Security Administration has been busy while Americans have been stuck waiting in super long lines at our nation’s airports, starting out the work week by axing the head of security and giving someone else the job. [More]
