Travel Rules Change in Middle of Holiday Travel Season

What started as a simple musing about “how could some idiot set off a firecracker on an airplane” has turned into a major headache for many thinking about heading home from their Christmastime trip. CNN, BBC, Guardian, Sky News, New York Times, and others offer a review of what’s going on with this attempt to cause harm, so I won’t give the dirty details.

But since I am flying with my wife and one-year-old in two weeks time, this wreaks havoc on plans, especially packing.  And although things are in motion here’s a list of what I can find out has changed:

• We’re going to need to get to the airport earlier.  While I haven’t seen anything official about this, it seems that multiple screenings of baggage and persons are going on, even hand searching of everyone’s luggage after passing through screening.  CNN even speaks of what I consider excessive investigating of baby bottles (thank God the baby is past the day of formula).  The Guardian reports that all passengers from London bound for the U.S. are being body searched.
• We’re going to have to change how we pack. British Airways is reporting that if you are flying from Heathrow or Gatwick to the U.S., you can only have one piece of carry-on luggage.  Thankfully, they are not charging extra if you have to check more luggage due to the increased security measures.
• Any presents not packed in luggage cannot be wrapped.
• And while the stories are allegorical, and not official statements from TSA, these are also changes:
  • Passengers are being restricted to their seats during the last hour of flight.  It seems that we’re going to need to plan for this with making sure bladders are empty and baby is fed and changed.
  • All blankets and pillows are taken up for last hour.  You cannot have anything in your lap (I wonder how that will effect my daughter flying as a ‘lap baby’).
  • As you cannot get out of your seat, you cannot have access to your carry-on luggage during the final hour of flight.
  • And while I haven’t seen anything directly reported, I seen second-hand reports that electronics must be stowed and even in-flight entertainment systems being disabled for the final hour.

TSA has done something rather ingenious.  Extra security measures are varying from location to location.  While I am not so sure about the effectiveness of this in a time with access to services like Twitter, I think this is a lot better policy than broadcasting what we are doing to make people safe.  While the broadcasting creates a sense of safety and confidence of knowing what to expect in the traveling public, changing measures and not broadcasting them keeps anyone trying to do harm from “knowing our playbook.”

In the grand scheme of things, I guess even more apparent what airline travel has become: a bus with wings.