Holiday fliers urged to chuck carry-on clutter, pack neatly
WASHINGTON -- Airline passengers, who already are required at airport checkpoints to remove their shoes, take off their coats and carry only small bottles of liquids, now have a new burden: Pack neatly.
In anticipation of the most popular holiday for travel in the USA, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today launches a campaign urging travelers to eliminate clutter in carry-on bags. Pack in layers. Keep items neat.
Messy travelers could spend more time in line if their carry-ons are cluttered because such bags are more likely to be pulled aside and searched by hand, TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe says.
The added search could add up to three minutes to time in the security line, Howe says.
"Whether or not the (TSA) campaign is effective, the effort is certainly welcome because, with 27 million-plus people scheduled to fly over Thanksgiving, every effort to speed up the security checkpoint will help," says David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the major airline trade group.
Some of those traveling may not be familiar with security checkpoint rules. "This is one of the holidays where you're dealing with the less-savvy traveler," Castelveter notes.
The neat-and-tidy exhortation, dubbed SimpliFLY by the TSA, is the latest effort to prepare people for a holiday travel period that is expected to draw record crowds into jam-packed airplanes.
The busiest travel days this week will be the day before Thanksgiving and the Sunday and Monday after the holiday, when airlines expect more than 2.5 million travelers a day, a 20% hike above normal levels, according to the Air Transport Association.
As airports urge travelers to arrive extra early and the government creates new airplane routes, the TSA is pointing out that neater packing can expedite checkpoint lines. They suggest the carry-on bag be packed with clothes folded, electronic devices organized and wires coiled.
"If you eliminate clutter, it helps us get a cleaner look at the contents of a bag" on checkpoint X-ray machines, Howe says. The faster that screeners can figure out what's inside a bag, the quicker they can clear it.
Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, applauds the TSA's effort, but says he's not "real optimistic" it will help expedite security lines. "The message is a pretty sophisticated one, and it's a lot for the average person who is traveling for the first time in months to remember," he says.
The TSA has sent airports and airlines posters and a 60-second video in which a female narrator advises: "Think layers. One layer of clothes. One layer of electronics." The video will be played on checkpoint screens that broadcast security announcements.
Airports also are going beyond trying to speed up lines and are preparing for stranded passengers, says Eileen Denne of the Airports Council International. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport recently bought four new buses to retrieve travelers from any planes stuck on the tarmac, Denne says.