From CNBC · Leslie Josephs · · 2m
The airport rules 9/11 built are quietly coming undone
Shoes stay on, gate greetings are back, and the TSA is loosening rituals travelers have followed for a quarter century.
In brief
Shoes stay on, gate greetings are back, and the TSA is loosening rituals travelers have followed for a quarter century. The visible 9/11-era checkpoint rituals are being traded for better scanners and prescreened identity data, not for less security. Originally reported by CNBC.
A quarter century of ritual
Since 2001, flying has meant shoes off, tiny bottles, and goodbyes at the curb instead of the gate. Twenty five years later, Washington is starting to unwind some of it.
“The Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks reshaped how we travel, from how we pack our toiletries to what we wear when we fly.”
Shoes stay on now
Last year the Department of Homeland Security, itself created after the attacks, told flyers they can keep their shoes on in the regular security line.
One man, one shoe
That rule traced back to Richard Reid, who tried to light explosive material in his shoe on a Paris to Miami flight in December 2001 and failed.
Liquids are still capped
The 100ml limit came out of a 2006 British plot to smuggle liquid explosives onto planes, and it is officially still in force.
Scanners do the easing
New machines at some checkpoints let you leave bottles in your bag. Which lanes have them varies airport by airport, so the rule loosens unevenly.
“The technologies today are better than they were a long time ago.”
You can buy your way forward
PreCheck costs $76.75 for five years and moves you into a faster lane. Clear sells a shorter ID line in exchange for biometrics.
The price is your data
Skipping the line means handing the government more of your personal record up front. Speed at the checkpoint is paid for in advance.
“When you do become a member of PreCheck, you give up a lot more of your personal data to the government, and that's the trade-off.”
Gate goodbyes come back
A free TSA program called Gateside lets approved PreCheck members past security without a boarding pass. It runs at 13 airports, including LAX and Dallas Fort Worth.
“meet family members at their gate, join a friend on a long layover for lunch or dinner”
Privatization hit a wall
TSA scrapped Gold+, its privatized screening pilot, last month. Tampa International had looked at it as a shutdown hedge, then walked away.
“We weren't quite satisfied that we were getting all of the answers to our questions regarding the technology.”
The threat moved on
Old rules fade while drones, AI and cyberattacks become the harder problem. Security keeps widening past the checkpoint.
“There is no such thing as the perfect security mousetrap. It doesn't exist.”
What it means
The visible 9/11-era checkpoint rituals are being traded for better scanners and prescreened identity data, not for less security.
