The U.S. Transportation Safety Administration is dipping its toes a little deeper into eliminating a major hassle for travelers arriving at U.S. airports and then catching flights to another domestic destination: re-checking bags.
Until recently, arriving passengers were required to reclaim their checked bags after clearing passport control, and then re-check them onto their next flight, giving TSA another chance to scan them.
But some passengers arriving from London on flights by Delta and American now have the opportunity to check their bags all the way through to their final destinations, but only if the transfer point is Atlanta on Delta or DFW on American. Delta’s SkyTeam partner will soon join the Atlanta test.
TSA says it’s ready to consider expanding the program to more U.S. hubs, assuming all goes well. And, it will also consider applying it to arrivals from other airports if they are able to reach one-stop security agreements with TSA. Those agreements mean that the airport’s origin baggage-handling is sufficiently secure that no further inspection is needed on arrival.
It’s a slow start end; in the other direction, passengers arriving for transfers at European airports have had one-stop transfer for years.
