All arriving flights into the United States after October 26 could be subject to new security screening measures, according to U.S. Transportation Security Administration officials. This includes American citizens.
The new measures are expected to impact 2,100 commercial flights arriving daily in the United States, and inconveniencing more than 300,000 passengers daily who will be arriving from more than 100 different countries.
Air France, Cathay Pacific, EgyptAir, Emirates and Lufthansa stated that they could begin instructing airline employees to question passengers during ticketing and may suspend self-checking of bags to do more thorough inspections.
The rules come after a 120-day time limit to comply with increased passenger screening. Airlines had until late July to improve explosive trace detection testing.
“The security measures affect all individuals, international passengers and U.S. citizens travelling to the U.S. from a last point of departure international location,” said Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokeswoman. She also said the new measures will include “heightened screening of personal electronic devices.”
