There will be a couple of differences for travelers flying out of upstate airports, including Syracuse’s Hancock International, and smaller regional airports. Travelers will have to place all personal electronic devices larger than a cell phone in a bin for X-ray screening. And a TSA officer will be assigned individual passengers going through the line to guide them through the process. That could make it a little longer to get through security with this new process.
"If they follow through with the requirements we ask, pull those items out, it goes quicker," said TSA Security Training Instructor Lisa Corrigan. "What we are finding out is people aren’t used to doing that so they leave it in the bag, and then we pull it out and resubmit it. So it’s going to be an adjustment for everybody.”
The TSA expects the new procedures to be in place by the end of the month at all upstate airports. The new security measures don’t affect TSA Precheck passengers. Bart Johnson, the upstate New York Federal Security Director, says passengers need to know that security procedures are being beefed up because of evolving threats from terrorists.
"It’s all in accordance with very well thought out intelligence and events that have occurred overseas. So they’re asking for a reason. So please comply with that.”
