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US seeks more airport security, could expand airplane laptop ban

DHS Chief: “Our enemies are adaptive, and we must be, too.”

laptop.airport.2-800x714.jpgEnlarge / A passenger places a laptop computer back into his bag after passing through a TSA check point at Salt Lake City International Airport.

In a speech today, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said that airlines that don't get on board with new security procedures could see electronic devices banned on their airplanes—or be barred from flying in the US altogether.

The Department of Homeland Security today said it will be demanding "enhanced security measures" for all commercial flights going into the US. The specific measures, which will be both "seen and unseen," aren't specified in a DHS fact sheet, but they generally include enhanced passenger screening, "heightened screening of personal electronic devices," and "deploying advanced technology, expanding canine screening, and establishing additional pre-clearance locations."

The new measures will affect 105 countries hosting approximately 280 airports, 180 airlines, and about 2,100 daily flights carrying 325,000 US-bound passengers.

DHS already has in place a policy that bars electronic devices larger than a cell phone from Turkey and several Middle Eastern airports. The UK has a similar policy, affecting airports in six countries.

A wider laptop ban that would affect European airports was also discussed, but that idea was shelved in May without an agreement.

"[W]e have continued to be confronted by threats to passenger aircraft," said Secretary Kelly at a security conference today. "This isn't a new issue. But the threat has evolved." He continued:

Since 9/11, the United States has seen a series of attempted attacks on commercial aviation. A shoe bomber. Liquid explosives. An underwear bomber. And a plot to detonate explosive cargo. Most of these were disrupted just in time, but our enemies have not always failed.

It's time to "raise the global baseline" of aviation security, said Kelly.

"Inaction is not an option," he added. "Those who choose not to cooperate or are slow to adopt these measures could be subject to other restrictions, including a ban on electronic devices from their airplanes, or even a suspension of their flights to the United States."

It almost goes without saying that pressure to get in line with the new security requirements will be enormous, since laptops and tablets are ubiquitous in business travel.

DHS says the new security requirements will "be implemented in phases over the next several weeks and months."

 

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/06/us-seeks-more-airport-security-could-expand-airplane-laptop-ban/

  • Moderator_02 changed the title to US Seeks More Airport Security, Could Expand Airplane Laptop Ban
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DHS announces updated security protocols for international flights to US

ABC News

Rather than expand the laptop ban, the Department of Homeland Security has mandated new security measures for foreign flights headed directly to the United States, Secretary John Kelly announced today.

"Terrorists want to bring down aircraft," Kelly said at a conference in Washington, D.C. "They still see aviation as the crown jewel target.

"However, we are not standing on the sidelines while fanatics hatch new plots," he added. "Together, we have the opportunity to raise the baseline on aviation security globally, and we can do it in a manner that will not inconvenience the flying public."

The updated protocols — which include "enhanced screening" of passengers and their electronic devices, as well as "seen and unseen" security around the aircraft and inside the airport, according to the DHS — affect 280 airports in 105 countries running about 2,000 flights daily. That's about 325,000 passengers daily.

If airlines can't or won't implement the new procedures, they will be barred from transporting personal electronic devices to the United States, in both the cabin and the cargo hold, and could even face suspension of operations into the United States.

"Inaction is not an option," Kelly said today, noting that most airlines he has spoken to seem to support the department's plan.

But Airlines for America, the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, said in a statement today that “While we have been assured that carriers will have the substantial flexibility necessary to implement these measures on a global scale, we believe that the development of the security directive should have been subject to a greater degree of collaboration and coordination to avoid the significant operational disruptions and unnecessarily frustrating consequences for the traveling public that appear likely to happen."

The group also urged the administration to "pursue a risk-based, intelligence-driven plan to implement enhanced security measures where the risk analysis determines they are most appropriate."

Carriers at the 10 foreign airports already affected by the laptop ban — instituted in March and banning large personal electronic devices from the cabin but not the hold — will have those restrictions lifted if they implement the new measures.

The new requirements come amid a "web of threats to commercial aviation" as terrorists work toward smuggling explosives onto jets inside laptops or other electronics, according to the DHS.

"We cannot play international whack-a-mole with each new threat," Kelly said. "Instead, we must put in place new measures across the board to keep the traveling public safe and make it harder for terrorists to succeed."

Officials declined to outline specifics of the procedures, citing security concerns. But passengers may notice more swabbing of passengers' hands and luggage in the gate area to test for explosive residue, sources told ABC News, adding that the updates will be phased in over the next few months.

Meanwhile, Homeland Security will continue to encourage airports to introduce more sophisticated checkpoint screening technologies and increase their use of canine teams.

ABC News' Whitney Lloyd, Geneva Sands and Daniel Steinberger contributed to this report.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/dhs-announces-security-protocols-international-flights-us/story?id=48327074

  • Moderator_02 changed the title to US Seeks More Airport Security; May Expand Cabin Electronics Bans on International Flights Into US
  • 4 weeks later...
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More delays for US bound travelers

airports-620x264.jpg 
Longer waits for US bound travelers

AS THE US attempts to pull up its security drawbridge, passengers traveling from Panama to the United  States will need to arrive at Tocumen International Airport three hours before takeoff because of US security concerns says Alfredo Fonseca Mora, director of the Civil Aeronautics Authority.

He is referring to the new security measures implemented by the United States Department of Homeland Security for flights from 105 countries, including Panama.

Fonseca Mora said that the new measures are being applied worldwide because the US says it has detected, through intelligence, the need to increase the safety levels of the flights that go to that country.

Some of the measures that  Panama will adopt are:

– More rigorous reviews of travelers

– More rigorous detection of electronic devices that go with the passenger or in luggage.

– Reinforcement of security protocols around aircraft

– Installation of new equipment to detect situations that may have consequences or problems

klm-300x169.jpg

No change for Europe bound planes

He clarified that although these measures will be implemented in 200 airports in more than 100 countries, they are exclusively for flights whose destination is the United States.

Fonseca Mora said that the biggest review will be at the time of boarding the plane.

He also recommended that if US bound passengers who previously arrived at the airport two hours before their flight should now do so three hours in advance, and that when they arrive at the air terminal do not stay at the counter, but rather pass directly to the inspection post and then to the departure gate.

So far there is no ban  on taking technological items on flights to take them on flights.

Fonseca Mora said  that they are working fpn the implementation of these security measures in the coming weeks.

 

http://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama/delays-us-bound-travelers

Edited by Moderator_02
included embedded images and article title
Posted
22 hours ago, Bonnie said:

Panama airport security already is the worst I've experienced.

Yes it is. After you go through security, they make you do it again at the gate and even take your empty water bottle away from you.

  • Upvote 1
Posted
2 hours ago, JudyS said:

Yes it is. After you go through security, they make you do it again at the gate and even take your empty water bottle away from you.

True. The only time I have seen this was in Brussels in October 2001 returning to the US. Just after 9/11 and everyone was overdoing checks.

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