The Global War on Liquids Continues!

The TSA has changed the ground rules again, for no particularly apparent reason.

Under the new rules, travelers can take up to four ounces of non-prescription medicine, glucose gel for diabetics, solid lipstick and baby food, the agency said.

All aerosols are prohibited.

“The refinements we are announcing are based on feedback from our security officers, the public and our partners,” said TSA Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley in a written statement. “We are maintaining the same level of security while clarifying interpretations in the field. These tweaks are aimed at making a smoother process at the checkpoint.”

Thus informing all terrorists that if they want to sneak something on board, they need only disguise it as OTC medicine, glucose gel for diabetics, lipstick, or baby food. Check.

How this will make things “smoother” at the checkpoints is unclear.

Oh, and the optional at-discretion-of-airport-or-inspector shoe inspections? They’re now mandatory. For reasons, again, unclear. So there!

Letters from folks who’ve recently traveled are collected at CNN. While tales of Confiscated Snow Globes and Gel Tennis Shoes about, I found this letter … interesting. Sarah in San Bruno, Calif., writes:

I work for an airline …

In what capacity, I wonder. An executive? A flight attendant? A pilot? Ground crew? Counter agent? That perspective could provide a lot of context.

… and I’ve noticed a lot of people complaining that they are being inconvenienced by the new regulations. This is a problem in my opinion because people are more concerned about convenience than their personal safety.

While there may be some of that, there’s also a sense that folks don’t believe the new regulations actually are adding to their personal safety.

I believe that until the TSA does away with carry-on bags altogether, we will not be any safer.

Except, of course, for stuff smuggled in clothing, body cavities, or the inevitable exceptions to the rules (even the Brits, who temporarily banned all carry-on, had a long list of acceptable items to bring on in Zip-loc bags).

With more bags comes more room for error, more screening time, etc. For decades, people checked in their baggage and carried tiny little cabin bags. Why are we now so dependent on having our huge rolling suitcases with us at all times? I mean, come on people! If it means flying safely, I think you can wait an extra 15 minutes at baggage claim.

Ah, for the Golden Age of Aviation, when men wore coats and ties, women wore dresses, and flight attendants were called stewardesses (or “the funny lady in the pillbox hat).

Here’s what’s different Now from Then:

1. Today there’s a lot more air travel than then, including a lot more day or one-night trips (where it’s completely practical, personally, to not check luggage).
2. A lot more air travel in Those Days involved checking bags at the plane (like on modern commuter jets), rather than at the counter.
3. If there’s little faith in the TSA, there’s even less faith in the whole baggage check system. Luggage, which was prone to theft and ransacking before, now must be kept unlocked (per the TSA), meaning that if you travel with anything of value (computers, business documents, jewelry), you play Russian Roulette if it’s out of your hands. And that’s assuming it doesn’t get lost or misplaced en route, as all to often happens. For years, travel experts have told us not to check anything that you’ll actually
   need on the other end; turning around and telling us we have to anyway is going to cause some reasonable consternation.
4. I don’t know where Sarah works, or how often she checks baggage, but while some airports do indeed seem to get bags out for pickup within 15 minutes (DEN, usually), others routinely leave me standing around for an extra 20-30 minutes from the time I get to the carousel to the time it starts running (LAX and ONT). Especially if I’m on a day trip.
5. And that time delay doesn’t count the added 30 minutes on the front end, checking the bags in the first place. If I don’t have to check, I just go to a eTicket kiosk and, in 2 minutes, have my boarding pass. If I have to check, it’s another crap shoot.
6. The airline have already been cracking down on what can be checked (2 bags, <50 lbs. each). Now if we were bringing a brief case, computer bag, etc., on board, that should be checked, too? Do we get to expand the checkable baggage limits, too?

I’ve bitched before about people who abuse the carry-on allowance, but there’s a difference between that and banning the stuff altogether. If the airlines really provided fast, efficient, secure baggage service, there would be a lot less griping. As it stands, baggage service on airlines is slow, awkward, and insecure. Which makes it a lot more difficult to pry personal belongings out of the hands of flyers, regardless of the security risk or bleats about boarding efficiency.

Sarah is not the only one to express this sentiment, though the only one I saw who identified themselves as an airline employee. While I think there would be some bitching regardless of the need (”Why can’t I bring my fireworks on board the plane?!”), the problem here is, at best, one of communication and accommodation: rules are being imposed without people being convinced that they are making them any safer, and without any acknowledgment that this will cause more difficulties, nor from
the service providers — i.e., the airlines — any information on how they will try to deal with concerns or ameliorate the inconveniences. That’s the real problem here.