PROVIDENCE, R.I.-
Passengers at T.F. Green Airport have not been complying with restrictions on liquids in carry-on luggage, causing longer security lines and a sharp increase in the number of bags being searched, an airport security official said.
Joseph Salter, the airport’s Transportation Security Administration director, said security lines have quadrupled and officials are searching four times as many bags as they did at the same time last year.
Security lines that used to take 10 to 12 minutes to pass through can now take 40 minutes or more during peak times.
“The real change is more bag searches,” Salter said. “That’s killing us.”
The government banned liquids and gels from carry-on luggage last August after the British police foiled a terrorist plot to bomb jets flying into the United States.
That blanket ban was partially lifted last month, when the government said it would permit liquid and gel toiletries in containers 3 ounces or smaller but required them to be placed in a clear plastic, zip-top bag.
That change in restrictions has led to confusion, particularly among leisure travelers.
The TSA has posted displays reminding travelers of the regulations, and officials are advising people waiting in line to straighten out their possessions before reaching the security checkpoint.
Some airlines and terminal vendors have even been offering free plastic bags to travelers.
“If everybody checked it all, that would make our lives easier,” Salter said. “But many go back outside and we have to re-screen them.”
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Information from: The Providence Journal,
