One of the things people fret about most with airline travel is going through security. If you don’t have TSA precheck, you’re figuring out how to balance on one foot at a time to take off your shoes, and you’re quickly removing your ziplock bag of liquids from your carry-on so it can go through the scanner, and trying to remember to also pull out your laptop computer or your e-reader or any other device—and meanwhile, people are lined up behind you, some of whom may be exuding “I’m going to miss my flight” energy. There’s just a lot of pressure!
There’s good news now, though, to make that security line a lot more relaxed. New technology being rolled out by TSA means you can leave liquids and electronics in your carry-on, according to MSN and Conde Nast Traveler. How nice to only focus on your shoes.
That technology consists of updated scanners similar to CT scanners in the hospital, hopefully without the hammering noises, though! TSA is spending $1.3 billion so that the scanners get a better image of carry-on contents—not just liquids and electronics, but also guns or other prohibited items—so that they don’t have to be separated out into different bins. That will both relax us flyers and make things move much more quickly. And we need speed; this article cites The Vacationer’s survey stating that this summer, 8 million more people will be flying than last year (more than 54 percent of Americans!)
You’ve probably already seen this updated scanner at work in larger airports like JFK in New York, O’Hare in Chicago and LAX in Los Angeles. But now it’s being shared with smaller airports, including in New Haven, CT; Austin, TX; Providence, RI; and upstate New York.
Good news for the future: full-sized liquids may soon be permitted, too, and we can all just reserve our plastic baggies for onboard snacks!