by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:41 AM ET, Thu October 26, 2017
The United States government announced Wednesday new security measures before takeoff have been implemented for all flights to America, including security interviews conducted by airline employees on citizens and foreigners entering the country.
According to The Associated Press, the new security measures will impact around 2,100 flights a day entering the U.S. daily and all airlines across the world must comply. While the updated regulations have already been put into effect at many airports, several carriers have offered different descriptions of what the security interviews would entail.
The interview process appears to change from airline to airline, with some having travelers required to fill out a form and others letting employees quiz passengers. A number of carriers have also said their standard operations remain the same.
U.S. government officials were given a 120-day window to develop new safety procedures after the previous laptop ban imposed on some Middle Eastern airlines concluded. The new regulations are broader than the previous electronics ban implemented by President Donald Trump and his administration in March.
"The security measures affect all individuals, international passengers and U.S. citizens, traveling to the United States from a last point of departure international location," Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said in a statement. "These new measures will impact all flights from airports that serve as last points of departure locations to the United States."
The new rules focus on increasing screening of personal electronic devices and stricter security procedures around planes and airport terminals. While an official from Airlines for America said the government has been flexible as carriers continue to implement the new rules, others question the decision to add airline employees to the security process.
"The part of the new measures I don't like is that airline personnel are being put back into the security screening process," Metropolitan State University of Denver aviation-security expert Jeffrey Price said. "Airline ticket agents aren't always the best at conducting security measures."
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
