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    Backups from Ban at Airport Checkpoints Short-Lived

    Sept. 14, 2006
    Five days after the liquids ban, security lines were routine at almost all of the country's 80 major airports.

    Source USA TODAY

    Security lines at U.S. airports returned to normal less than a week after a terror scare last month created some of the worst checkpoint backups ever, a USA TODAY analysis of security data shows.

    Transportation Security Administration (TSA) records show that five days after airline passengers were barred from carrying most liquids on airplanes, security lines were routine at almost all of thecountry's 80 major airports.

    Travelers waited 90 minutes or more at 13 of the airports on Aug. 10, when the ban took effect after British authorities said they stopped an alleged plot to bomb U.S.-bound airplanes using liquid explosives. Five airports had lines of two hours or more, the data show.

    By Aug. 15, only four airports had lines exceeding 30 minutes.

    The fast rebound "gives the TSA wiggle time to test and deploy technology that will deal with liquid explosives," said aviation-security consultant Douglas Laird. "The public isn't going crazy."

    The TSA has said the ban will remain in place indefinitely.

    Many passengers are using checked luggage instead of carry-on bags. Mike Restovich, TSA's security-operations chief, said the reduction in carry-ons helped checkpoint lines come "back to normalcy" by giving screeners fewer bags to check.

    Caleb Tiller of the National Business Travel Association said the TSA did a good job explaining the restriction after early confusion. The rules "are well-understood," Tiller said.

    Many travelers now spend extra time waiting to check and retrieve luggage, he said.

    Timing helped ease lines. Late August and September are slow air-travel periods. Some airlines lost passenger volume after Aug. 10, said James May, CEO of the Air Transport Association, an airline trade group.

    Orlando International Airport screener Don Thomas said travelers are following the liquid ban "surprisingly well." Even so, he warned, "If it was holiday time, it would be really bad."

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