Smoother sailing
lobby; and it has natural light from clerestory windows in a raised roof structure featuring the airport’s martini-glass design motif.
For passengers leaving the airport, B Checkpoint added an escalator that leads down to baggage claim, bypassing the terminal lobby completely.
The airport, which typically puts 8,000 to 10,000 people a day through three security checkpoints, expects peaks of 10,000 to 12,000 a day Wednesday and the Sunday after Thanksgiving, officials said.
McCarthy said travelers should allow about 90 minutes to get checked in, through security and situated at their gates. TSA aims to keep screening waits to 20 minutes or less, he said.
Travelers should know some rules haven’t changed, like a prohibition on bottles with
more than 3 ounces of liquids, gels or aerosols. But others have been relaxed as part of TSA’s risk-based security initiative.
Children 12 and under and people 75 and older face modified screening procedures, including not having to remove shoes and light jackets, McCarthy said.
The “snow globe” rule, in effect for about two months, says such items that contain less than 3.4 ounces (roughly equal to or smaller than a tennis ball) can be stored inside a resealable one-quart plastic bag with other liquids and placed in carry- on luggage.
TSA advises against putting wrapped gifts in carry- on luggage, because officers may have to unwrap them to check for threats. Food items such as cakes and pies can be carried on, but also may require closer inspection.
The agency has a tollfree hotline, TSA Cares, at 855-787-2227, to provide information to passengers with disabilities and medical conditions. Information can also be found at tsa.gov.