The Wall Street Journal Guide to Power Travel by Scott McCartney

Author:Scott McCartney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-01T16:00:00+00:00

TSA POWER!

From its early inflexibility, the TSA is now trying new ideas, deploying new equipment, and giving screeners new training. As a small step toward laptop relaxation, TSA de cided to allow “security friendly” notebook carrying cases that can go through X-ray machines without removing the computer from the bag. Most have a butterfly design where they unzip and lie flat, so nothing but the carrying case is on top of the computer itself, giving the X-ray machine a clear shot at the object. Some are simply envelope-type carrying cases that the laptop slides into, with nothing else to obscure the X-ray view. The bags can save you some hassle at checkpoints, unless you end up arguing with an uninformed TSA screener over whether your bag is “legal” or not. And of course, you have to like the bag for all the other, more important purposes the bag serves. Does it work as a briefcase, for example?

Technology ultimately has the most promise both to speed up and improve security. Already, more accurate X-ray machines are in use at some airports that take multiple scans of the contents of a bag, much like a medical CT scan, and can accurately evaluate what’s inside a laptop computer, for example, without having to remove everything around the device. In London, where the United Kingdom is already using that technology, there are no laptop-removal requirements—no matter what kind of bag the computer is in. New software for the new generation of X-ray machines will let TSA relax the three-ounce rule as well, Mr. Hawley told me in late 2008. The machines will be able to identify liquid explosives, letting passengers carry shampoo, soft drinks, and other liquids through security checkpoints. TSA hoped to relax the liquids rule in 2009.

Other technology is being rolled out. “Puffer” machines that blow short bursts of air on you help with detecting any sort of explosives that someone might be hiding under clothes. The machine analyzes the air collected for traces of chemicals. The puff itself can be startling the first time you go through. And no, it doesn’t blow air up women’s skirts to reveal all, Marilyn Monroe–style.

Full-body scanners in use at several airports in place of metal detectors also have a much better chance of detecting bombs strapped to bodies. These machines may be the future we all face at security—they can detect metal objects, liquid and chemical explosives, and just about anything hidden under clothes. Some people may be a bit queasy about the full-body scanners, however. A TSA officer in a cubicle out of sight from the scanner gets to see an outline of your body in all its naked glory. The image is far from titillating, but it doesn’t leave much to the imagination, either. For that reason, TSA has made those types of scanners optional—you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. But it certainly can save you from an unpleasant pat-down where a screener frisks you with gloved hands.

In the end, making improvements in security screening should speed up checkpoints.

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