TSA tips

TSA has approved new baggage scanners designed to do two things: Speed up airport security lines, and provide better imaging of your bag’s contents. Once installed, these scanners could make airports safer, and security checkpoints run smoother.

The TSA is experimenting with new scanning cameras that can detect concealed explosives on travelers as they walk by. The TSA, along with local law enforcement, is testing the new devices at a busy metro station in Los Angeles and in railway hubs in Washington, D.C.

The Trump Administration is aiming to increase the TSA fees travelers pay as part of their airline tickets.

Flying somewhere this summer? You won’t be alone. Airlines for America (A4A), the trade group representing the biggest U.S. airlines, predicts some 246 million travelers will take to the skies this summer, which would be a record and represent an increase of 3.7 percent over last year. A4A says airlines added roughly 116,000 seats per day to accommodate the surge in travelers.

According to a stunning report by the Boston Globe, the TSA has been operating a secret airport surveillance program called Quiet Skies that tracks passengers who are not otherwise suspected to be a threat. “Federal air marshals have begun following ordinary US citizens not suspected of a crime or on any terrorist watch list,” the Globe reports, and is “collecting extensive information about their movements and behavior under a new domestic surveillance program that is drawing criticism from within the agency.”

CNN reports that the TSA is contemplating eliminating passenger screening at more than 150 small and medium-sized airports across the US, according to internal documents from a TSA working group. The agency currently screens passengers at 440 airports.

Get ready for your close up. Delta Air Lines and the Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport have opened the nation’s first optional biometric screening checkpoints, which use facial recognition scanning to expedite the airport process from check-in to boarding.

You might be able to skip two steps in the trudge through airport security soon, as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced a plan to test new scanners that could allow flyers to keep their liquids and laptops in their carry-on bags.

Update: On January 13, Houston’s George Bush International airport closed a terminal due to a worker shortage. The move followed Miami International Airport’s closure of a terminal amid TSA officer call outs. Our original story including tips on how to avoid airport delays during the shutdown continues below.

It’s looking like it’s going to be a busy summer for America’s airports in 2021, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is preparing accordingly.

If you’ve ever tried to drink peanut butter (on its own, not in a smoothie), you might laugh at someone classifying the sticky substance as a liquid. You won’t be laughing if you try to bring a jar full of Skippy on your next flight—the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officially ruled that peanut butter is a liquid and subject to the 3-1-1 rule if it’s in your carry-on.