Just in time for the busy holiday weekend, travelers will find something new waiting for them at airports: The first major changes to airport screening rules since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Starting Thursday, small scissors, small screwdrivers and pliers will be able to pass safely through checkpoints, although long-bladed knives, box cutters and lighters will remain verboten.
The Transportation Security Administration also will change the way it does passenger searches, with pat-downs that target arms and legs as well as torsos. More passengers also will be selected randomly for such screenings.
Before going into effect, however, the new rules already have drawn challenges from some members of Congress, airline pilots and flight attendants.
“Anything that degrades the present level of safety we now have concerns us,” said Capt. Steve Derebey, a United Airlines pilot and spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association. “It makes no sense to allow things that have been banned back on airplanes.”
Significant changes in the level of passenger screening were just some of the security measures implemented after terrorists used box cutters and knives to take over three aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001. Commercial aircraft have heavier, more secure cockpit doors. Pilots can carry handguns in the cockpit, and armed air marshals now fly anonymously as a deterrent.
Some lawmakers say that any loosening of security is a step in the wrong direction. Legislative efforts have begun to reverse the security administration’s decision. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is a co-author of what has become known as the “Leave All Blades Behind Act.” The bill would prohibit loosening restrictions on what can be brought aboard aircraft.
“It makes no sense to prohibit knives from being brought into passenger cabins, while at the same time allowing scissors of the same length and sharpness,” Markey said. “Their argument is they will save money by not searching for scissors, but they still have to search for and measure the scissors to determine if they’re 4 inches or longer.”
The new rules are part of an effort to redeploy the security administration’s resources. Small scissors and tools account for 25 percent of the prohibited items found in passenger bags. By allowing them through, agents will be able to focus on other areas, Kip Hawley, assistant secretary of the security administration, said in a speech this month.
“We found that a disproportionate amount of our resources go to line-slowing bag searches directed at objects that do not pose a real threat of taking control of an aircraft,” he said in an address at the National Press Club.
“So it made sense to investigate whether reducing the number of less dangerous items on the prohibited list would allow us to focus more of the time and attention of our security officers on more serious security risks, like explosives.”
Since February 2002, more than 30 million prohibited items have been surrendered at airport security checkpoints, a security administration spokeswoman said. In 2005, 12.6 million items were collected, including 3 million pairs of scissors and 819,450 tools.
The security administration’s decision has the support of the Air Transport Association, an industry group representing major airlines.
It makes sense to “redeploy those screeners to what is a greater priority, and this is, from a risk-based analysis, explosives on airplanes,” said spokesman David Castelveter.
Focusing efforts on finding even the smallest blade has little value and leads to long security backups at airports, Castelveter said. Refocusing efforts after careful study keeps aircraft safe and better uses resources, he said.
“More importantly, they’re eliminating the predictability of when you’ll be chosen for a pat-down,” Castelveter said. “They’re focusing on what presents the greatest threat, and that’s explosives, not scissors.”
– – –
What fliers can expect
New rules for what is allowed on commercial aircraft go into effect Thursday. The changes are part of revised regulations issued by the Transportation Security Administration.
What’s allowed:
– Scissors with blades up to 4 inches long
– Screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers up to 7 inches long
What’s still banned:
– Scissors and tools longer than maximum lengths
– All saws, hammers, crowbars and drills
– Lighters
About the searches:
– Searches expanded to include pat-downs of legs and arms
– More random searches of passengers will be conducted
– Screeners will continue to X-ray carry-on baggage, coats, jackets and shoes
