The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) family lanes are catching on. The agency is expanding the concept to encompass every security checkpoint in the country before Thursday, November 20, in time for the Thanksgiving crush.
Already at 48 airports nationwide, the idea is to funnel flyers who need more time through a specially tuned lane, where TSA personnel can lend a hand in helping folks who don’t fly that often navigate what can be an unsettling experience.
“Passengers have clearly demonstrated their preference to go at their own pace,” says Kip Hawley, TSA Administrator. He contends: “Expanding these [dedicated] lanes to every airport and directing families and passengers with medically necessary liquids to them, increases passenger convenience and security.”
How much longer will it take TSA personnel to determine that things such as baby formula, insulin, cough syrup, and prescription meds pose no threat? The agency says about two minutes. Such “medically necessary” liquids are subject to so-called “secondary screening,” where passengers are taken aside and their belongings, or persons, are examined more carefully.
© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler
