Press. voanews.com
All incoming
flights to the United States will be subject to new security screening
procedures before takeoff, including both American citizens and foreigners
possibly facing security interviews from airline employees, the U.S. government
said Wednesday.
Both American
air carriers and global airlines must comply, affecting all the 2,100 flights
from around the world entering the U.S. on any given day. The directive is far
broader than an earlier Trump administration ban on laptops inside the cabins
of some airliners, which only targeted 10 Mideast cities and their airlines.
Carriers
confused
Confusion
greeted the new rules. While five global long-haul carriers said they would
begin the new security interviews on Thursday, each offered different
descriptions of how the procedure would take place, ranging from a form travelers
would be required to fill out to being verbally quizzed by an airline employee.
Other carriers insisted their operations remained the same.
“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,” said Lisa Farbstein, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Transportation
Security Administration. “These new measures will impact all flights from
airports that serve as last points of departure locations to the United
States.”
The new rules
come at the end of a 120-day window for new U.S. safety regulations to be
implemented following the lifting of the laptop ban imposed on some Mideast
airlines. They include “heightened screening of personal electronic devices”
and stricter security procedures around planes and in airport terminals,
Farbstein said. She did not elaborate.
Details of the
new rules first became apparent in a statement by Dubai-based Emirates, which
operates the world’s busiest airport for international travel. In the
statement, Emirates said it would begin carrying out “pre-screening interviews”
at its check-in counters for passengers flying out of Dubai and at boarding
gates for transit and transfer fliers. It urged those flying through Dubai
International Airport to allow extra time for flight check-in and boarding.
“These measures
will work in complement with the current additional screening measures
conducted at the boarding gate,” it said. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific
Airways Ltd. said on its website that it had suspended self-drop baggage
services and that passengers heading to the U.S. “will be subject to a short
security interview” when checking their luggage. Those without bags would have
a similar interview at their gates.
Air France said
it would begin the new security interviews on Thursday at Paris Orly Airport
and a week later, on Nov. 2, at Charles de Gaulle Airport. It said the extra
screening would take the form of a questionnaire handed to all passengers.
EgyptAir said in
a statement the new measures include more detailed searches of passengers and
their luggage as well as interviews. It said the procedure would extend to
unauthorized agricultural or veterinary products.
A statement by
Germany's Lufthansa Group said that “in addition to the controls of electronic
devices already introduced, travelers to the U.S.A. might now also face short
interviews at check-in, at document check or (at their) gate.” Lufthansa Group
includes Germany’s largest carrier, Lufthansa, as well as Austrian Airlines,
Swiss, Eurowings and several other airlines.
Royal Jordanian,
based in Amman, said it would introduce the new procedures in mid-January.
Spokesman Basel Kilani said it would take the form of a questionnaire given to
passengers before check-in. He said he didn't know what kind of questions would
be asked.
U.S. carriers
also will be affected by the new rules. Delta Air Lines said it was telling
passengers traveling to the U.S. to arrive at the airport at least three hours
before their flight and allow extra time to get through security. United
declined to comment, while American did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
'Complex
security measures'
The
International Air Transport Association, which represents 275 airlines, did not
immediately respond to a request for comment. However, Vaughn Jennings of the
trade group Airlines for America said that while the new rules include “complex
security measures,” U.S. officials have been flexible.
“The safety and
security of passengers and crew is the highest priority for U.S. airlines and
we remain committed to ensuring the highest levels of security are in place
throughout the industry,” Jennings said. However, not all were convinced of the
new measures’ effectiveness.
“The part of the
new measures I don't like is that airline personnel are being put back into the
security screening process,” said Jeffrey Price, an aviation-security expert at
Metropolitan State University of Denver. “Airline ticket agents aren't always the
best at conducting security measures.”
Trump's latest
travel move
This is just the
latest decision by President Donald Trump’s administration affecting global
travel. In March, U.S. officials introduced the laptop ban in the cabins of
some Mideast airlines over concerns Islamic State fighters and other extremists
could hide bombs inside of them. The ban was lifted after those airlines began
using devices like CT scanners to examine electronics before passengers boarded
planes heading to the U.S. Some also increasingly swab passengers’ hands to
check for explosive residue.
The laptop ban
as well as travel bans affecting predominantly Muslim countries have hurt
Mideast airlines. Emirates, the region’s biggest, said it slashed 20 percent of
its flights to the U.S. in the wake of the restrictions.
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