CNN article on Family Lanes/Special Medical needs

This article makes it seem optional for families/new travellers but not so optional for people with special medical needs.

" At San Francisco International, families with small children, travelers with special needs and passengers with medically necessary liquids were actively directed to the new lines by airport personnel."...

"The TSA imposed the restrictions on liquids in August 2006 after a plot was uncovered to use liquid explosives to destroy planes headed from London, England, to the United States. The TSA says liquid explosives remain a security concern, but the new procedures will allow screeners to check what kind of liquids are being carried aboard.

Passengers traveling with liquids, gels and aerosols like baby formula, insulin, cough syrup, contact lens solution and prescription medications will undergo additional screening that will usually take less than two minutes, the agency said."

I'm going to be seriously annoyed if, after 2+years of mostly ignoring the "must have prescription with you" rules they start enforcing it through this extra screening.

We fly next week, out of BWI. It will be interesting to see how they 'direct' people carrying liquid meds to the Family Lane. I'm playing dumb for as long as I can!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/11/20/airport.family.lines/index.html

Separate Lanes at the Airport??

Apparently, the TSA thinks that people with medical needs (who are carrying insulin, for example), should go through a separate lane in security, along with families and people who are unfamiliar with airport security and need more time.

I have a big problem with this - I travel frequently and have it down to a science - my 3-1-1 ziplock bag and my insulin zip lock bag get packed in the front of my carryon, where I can pop them out quickly and place them in a bin for speedy inspection. I am a model traveller, while others around me fumble through their ditty bags (still!), pulling out full size lotion bottles and shampoos.

The thought of having to get into a designated (and slow) lane ticks me off. I hope I'm misinterpreting this, but it sounds like a recipe for trouble.

Not mention the potential privacy pitfalls!


WASHINGTON (AP) — Airports across the country will have designated security lanes for families to move through preflight inspections at their own pace, just in time for the busy Thanksgiving travel season.

The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its family lanes to every security checkpoint in the country by November 20. The popular lanes, which have been tested at 48 airports, provide a space for families and passengers who don't travel very often to move through security at their own pace.

People who carry prohibited items for medical needs — such as cough syrup, insulin, contact lens solution and breast milk or baby formula — will also be directed to the family lanes, the TSA said.

"Expanding these lanes to every airport and directing families and passengers with medically necessary liquids to them, increases passenger convenience and security," TSA Administrator Kip Hawley said in a statement Monday.