LOS ANGELES - Tougher air travel security procedures were still evolving at
US airports early Friday, with a second layer of security check points opening
at the airplane gates and National Guard troops arriving to patrol major
airports in New York, California and Massachusetts.
After a day of long lines and confusion at many airports, passengers arriving
for flights Friday were better prepared for the new prohibition on carrying
liquids aboard aircraft.
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A police officer with
an automatic weapon stands near a traveler outside of the British Airways
terminal at JFK International Airport in New York, Friday, Aug. 11, 2006.
Passengers in the United States are facing heightened security at airports
today after authorities in London uncovered a terror plot yesterday aimed
at airlines traveling from Britain to the US.
[AP]
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Rather than discovering at the last minute that they would have to throw out
makeup, perfume and suntan lotion, travelers were packing those items in checked
luggage instead. That helped shrink the check point lines for domestic flights
to lengths closer to normal Friday morning at Miami International Airport,
spokesman Greg Chin said.
Kingsley Veal, 35, a geologist from England, said his Continental flight from
London's Heathrow airport to San Francisco was "long and boring" because he
couldn't bring any books or music on board, but he thought the no-carry-on
policy should always be in effect.
"If no one's allowed anything, then you'd know, right?" Veal said.
The security rules were tighter on flights to and from the United Kingdom,
but the long lines that formed ahead of some early international departures at
Miami Friday cleared out quickly, Chin said.
Traffic also was moving more smoothly at New York's major airports, where the
flight delays Friday morning were generally no more than 15 minutes, said
Tiffany Townsend, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey.
The new rules were hastily added early Thursday after British authorities
arrested 24 people in an alleged plot to blow up US-bound planes by using
explosives disguised as common liquids. It wasn't clear how long they would
remain in effect, though Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., said the situation
"eliminates the days of carry-on baggage."
It took two hours for Ken Kirkwood and his wife to get off their flight from
London to Los Angeles, go through customs and retrieve their luggage.
"We're glad to be on solid ground," said the school teacher from Yucaipa,
Calif., who arrived after an 11-hour flight to find a bomb squad vehicle parked
near the plane on the runway.
From London to Los Angeles, travelers on Thursday had found themselves
unpacking carry-on bags on the floor in the terminals. Some tried to squeeze
makeup, sunscreen and other toiletries into their checked baggage, where liquids
were permissible. Others filled up the bins at security checkpoints, abandoning
everything from nail polish to a bottle of tequila.
