New Security Procedures Start This Weekend at Airport Checkpoints

With the unofficial start of summer come this weekend, new security procedures will go into effect at the nation’s airports, but one has to be 75 years or older to take advantage of them.

Starting this weekend, passengers 75 years of age and older will benefit from lower scrutiny at security checkpoints.  This means that anyone born in 1937 or earlier will no longer have to remove his shoes or jacket (heavy coats will need to be taken off, however), and most belts can remain on as well.

In addition, at a meeting of the TSA’s Aviation Security Advisory Committee this week, Doug Hofsass, an associate administrator at the TSA, said it envisions 50 to 75% of passengers to take advantage of the PreCheck trusted traveler program.  “We’re going to have to get to the general population,” Hofsass reported to the committee.

In September 2011, the TSA started to implement revised screening procedures for children 12 years of age and younger.  The procedures included allowing children to leave their shoes on and allowing multiple passes through the walk-through metal detector or imaging device to clear alarms instead of using pat-downs.  The new procedures for older passengers will include allowing multiple passes through screening devices as well.

On May 5, airports in Russia stopped requiring passengers to remove belts and shoes and passengers will be able to bring liquids on board starting in the fall, thanks to the deployment of new screening technology that can analyze liquids without opening the container.  Passengers flying to countries with stricter security standards may still have to undergo additional checks at the gate.

(Pictured: Aircraft at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport)