New security measures on US bound flights

[Katys Grandad]

Following the much publicised incident onboard a Detroit bound flight in the last couple of days, new restrictions have been introduced for US bound passengers. Not all seem to be taken up by every airline but the list includes:

Just 1 carry-on bag
More thorough body searching regime
Having to stay in your seat for the last hour of the flight (including locking toilets and preventing access to bags in overhead bins) and blankets/pillows not allowed
Electrical devices to be put away for the last hour
In flight entertainment being switched off at for the first and last hour of flight (some airlines seem to be switching it off for the whole flight)

Reports saying that at least 90 minutes delay can be expected on US bound flights at the moment.

You have to acknowledge that security is always paramount but what fun flying transatlantic has become now.[msnsad]

[ShirleyD]

I can't see how making people sit in their seats for the last hour will enhance security, just as making them eat with plastic knives and forks, but allowing glass duty free bottles didn't make sense!

At the moment everyone is having bags and person checked again at the gate which has caused some delays, not least due to the need for extra female search officers. Be prepared to go to the gate a lot earlier

[mollymolly]

Does anyone know if they have stepped up security on the way back from the US?

Bernadette

[Clare R]

'Stepped up security' - it would be nice to see some security on the way back from the US. I have never been asked any of the questions concerning myself or my luggage that I have to go through on the outward journey. I get the feeling as I am leaving the US frankly that is fine with them!

[Pookie]

Some of my family flew home to New York yesterday and the hand baggage was checked again at the gate. This was out of San Antonio which is not an international hub.

I always find security tougher outbound US than outbound LHR.

I will report our experience from Houston on Tuesday once returned to the UK.

Lynne

[Jill]

Some of the new security measures seem to be very knee jerk. I can just imagine what is going to happen when a parent has to explain to a child they cannot go to the toilet for an hour - we cleaned up more than one mess when we did not believe our boys were 'as they put it really desperate', or the smell and noise from an unhappy baby in a soiled nappy.

Considering his father voiced his concerns to the US about his son and they decided he did not pose a sufficient risk perhaps they should look at their own protocols first!

[Robert5988]

Whilst we are aware that this attempt was made in the last hour of flight, has anyone heard the reasoning behind the restrictions in the first/last hour of flight; other than the terrorists want the plane to crash over land and kill more people on the ground and get more publicity?

[Sniff]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
Whilst we are aware that this attempt was made in the last hour of flight, has anyone heard the reasoning behind the restrictions in the first/last hour of flight; other than the terrorists want the plane to crash over land and kill more people on the ground and get more publicity?[/quote]I assume that the US authorities think that any such terrorist attack would have greater impact domestically if it happened in US airspace, rather than in mid-Atlantic or something. I can see how that would be the case...

However that logic falls down when you think that any flight originating in Europe and headed for the West coast would be over land for a good few hours before landing.

[Katys Grandad]

There's nothing that new about this type of rule. If you fly in or out of Regan National airport in Virginia, there's been a '20 minute rule' ever since 9/11 due to the airport's proximity to Washington DC and particularly the Pentagon.

I'd agree that the proposed rule seems to be intended to prevent a terrorist bringing a plane down on a heavy populated US city and for the same reason, any IFE system with the map showing where the plane is will in future be switched off. As now, flight paths across the US don't usually go over heavy populated areas so the need for a longer period of 'lock down' on West Coast routes doesn't apply.

None of this makes much sense but if our thinking is correct then why aren't there similar restrictions for the first hour of outbound US flights?

[Sniff]

I think Jill hit the nail on the head when she said it was a knee jerk reaction. The authorities always have to be seen to be doing something in response to such incidents, but there very rarely is (or seems to be) much logic behind their reactions.

Already today on the news I saw a report saying that some airlines were 'winding down' the increased security measures they had put in place after the incident on Christmas Day. I also called Lufthansa (as we fly to Charlotte on Jan 6th) to ask if they had put new security measures in place. To paraphrase their reply..."No. Why would we?"

I think the reality is that until every single passenger is stripped-searched before boarding, and every single bag is opened and hand-searched before loading, there's always a chance something or someone will slip through. And as such measures are unacceptable (to the traveller, to the carrier and to the airport) we will continue to suffer these kind of reactive (as opposed to proactive) restrictions.