Heightened security to worsen travel woes

al-Reuters ^ | Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:54pm ET | Kyle abu Petersonallah and Chris abu Hamza al-Reiter

[jjm2111]

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tighter restrictions on carry-on luggage, including bans on liquids, will disrupt air travel for at least several days and make it even more of a headache for passengers already sick of crowded planes and long lines, experts said.

U.S. security officials banned passengers from carrying any liquids onto planes after British officials said they foiled a plot to bomb flights to the United States on Thursday.

The new restrictions were sure to cause major disruptions for at least two or three days at airport security checkpoints as screeners scour carry-on bags for drinks, hair gels and lotions, experts said.

"They've got to search everything extremely carefully right now," said Joe Schwieterman, transportation expert at DePaul University. "Any time you impose a new rule there's instant chaos, but things settle down in a few weeks."

He said the increased security will be especially taxing for passengers already fed up with long lines and crowded planes during the peak summer travel season.

The heightened concern about travel safety triggered renewed calls for improved security, which can be laxly enforced by airlines and airports loathe to inconvenience passengers.

[jjm2111]

I think this will be most damaging to the airlines. I myself will be postponing flying to avoid the hassle. Expense + hassle = not worth it.

The TSA could also start profiling as opposed to strip searching grandma and 6 yr. old girls. Morons.

[YOUGOTIT]

The TSA needs to start looking for terrorist and not some old lady with a water bottle. Were any of the terrorist caught in the UK not Muslim? NO! Why do we waste all this time when profiling would do the trick.

[sgtbono2002]

I believe one of the terrorists in England was a white boy recently converted.

Probably a liberal idiot who's girlfriend wouldnt have sex with him and he wanted to commit suicide.Either that or a woman hating POS.

[P-40]

It has taken ten years to start dealing with this problem...so things will be a little annoying for a time.

[durasell]

Yes, they would all wring their hands in anguish, "Oh no! Thwarted by pesky Arabic names and appearance! No way around it. None. Dang, let's call the whole thing off."

[AmericanInTokyo]

Yeah, but try driving from Seattle to Osaka ! ;-(

[AmericanInTokyo]

Standing up to and questioning a TSA officer at a domestic airport these days, high school-educated, over-empowered and over-entitled, (rude and even CRUEL to passengers who haven't the slightest resemblance to the terrorist profile) for something MORALLY RIGHT such as to step in and stop them from reducing a wheelchair-bound 90 year old Chinese woman and her daughter to tears over repeated yelling and wanding, could land one in federal jail for 10 years.

It has come to this. It is madness, sheer madness. We have lost a lot of freedoms.

I am for good security. Intelligent security. What we are starting to get at airports, though, is outright tyranny and abuse of power steeped in unprofessional Barney Fife-ism. And cowering passengers, citizens who used to have rights, afraid to challenge anything. I can snif abuse of power from 1000 meters. US airports REEK of it these last few years.

[jjm2111]

I hear ya, man. I hear ya. Also, wrt to TSA I don't generally have problems. I'll chat them up a bit, tell them to stay safe, etc. and have met some nice people. If someone was a jerk to me I would demand to see their supervisor right away.`

[Atlas Sneezed]

They really ought to offer FREE water bottles by the pallet load in the gate area. (Being offered two 4-ounce glasses of water on a 4-hour flight just doesn't cut it.)

Of course, I could just carry an empty and fill it at a water fountain in the gate area.

[Rutles4Ever]

After "several days", it won't be a threat? I don't understand this at all. It's very simple. The airlines can make this work. You get NO CARRY ON LUGGAGE, NO LIQUIDS, NOTHING ELECTRONIC. The airlines can provide entertainment, in-flight phone service, Internet, drinks, food, etc. You bring what you're wearing, and your wallet/identification. What's the cost? Maybe we have to pay an extra $20-$30 a ticket. So what - what's that worth to you and me if it means a uniformly enforceable security policy, and peace of mind that no one can bring anything on a plane and blow it up? It would require an initial, sizable investment for the airlines, but if the process of flying becomes intolerable, they're going to go down the drain anyhow.

This may be a totally unfeasible. I'm just searching for ideas. The first plane that comes down via iPod is going to absolutely cause the world to ban all carry-on electronics anyhow. Why wait for it to happen? This is their intent, and they will find a way. This is the War on Terror, and as citizens of this country, we have to fight it here whether we like it or not.

On the other hand, a female terrorist can conceal plastic explosives in creative ways. So I guess we're screwed no matter what. How depressing.

[colrpfournier]

The entire TSA and Homeland Security makes absolutely no sense whatsoever until they begin racially profiling the muslim potential killers and leave my 88-year-old uncle alone!!!!

Hairspray, toothpaste...utter nonsense!

[durasell]

What race?

[Mr Rogers]

How do you profile a religion?

The jihadists are quite willing to use pregnant women or old women - and their prime candidates for attacks are whites who converted.

Profiling is getting harder to do. The little old lady boarding the plane may have had her grandson help her with her bags - her white grandson who recently converted to Islam and doesn't mind blowing up grandma to strike a blow for jihad.

[luckystarmom]

What's the big deal? I am traveling with my three kids on Monday. I'm just going to repackage things, and take limited carry ons.

I'm sure the lines will be longer, but that's to be expected.

I don't care if they ban things on the flights. My kids and I can manage.

[Mr Rogers]

I would like a 'no carry-on' rule just because it would make boarding and departing so much faster...

[Let's Roll]

I'm for deporting all of them so we don't have to worry about profiling.

But ... in the meantime, any manufacturers who can package their liquid/gel products in clear containers would likely be able to sell all they can make.

(I realize their may be some products that shouldn't be exposed to light).

[Truth29]

There is going to be a major business impact as well, IMO. All of those airport shopping malls inside of security which sell high end spirits, wine, perfume, etc. are going to be put out of business. There will be new business opportunities, as well. The entrepreneurs among us will find them.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Trust me, in the conference rooms of US airliners this very morning, they are devising brand new ways TO CHARGE THE AMERICAN PASSENGER EVEN MORE onboard for these few comforts that have suddenly been taken away which we used to be able to bring onboard. Just watch, they'll make it a revenue producer somehow. Just like they have gradually taken away for service, and now repackage them as 'purchaseables'. Flying US carriers these days suck anyways, crappy attitude, rude, filthy, less and less service and less freebies being provided, schedule screwups, inhuman cramped conditions....and at the heart of it, greed at the top as you know the main thing is to increase the stock options of executives for their cushy retirement in the Bahamas and Thurston, Jr's four years at Yale. To hell with the rest of us in flyover country.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Find countries where profiling works, and copy them. Pure and simple.

El Al has it right. Singapore Airlines has it right. ANA has it right. Cathay Pacific has it right.

Course, they do not have domestic political correctness-run rampant 'sensitivities' to cater to like we do, and which has taken our freedoms away and replaced it with sheer lack of common sense.

[Truth29]

I don't think you can carry an empty and fill it at the gate. The way I read the restrictions, no liquids can be carried on to the planes at all by passengers. Supposedly, there is, beginning today, an additional screening at the gate to assure that restriction is enforced.