We’re slowly seeing some countries start to ease their restrictions on traveling with liquids in carry-on bags. Unfortunately we shouldn’t expect anything similar in the United States anytime soon…
The TSA’s liquids restrictions are here to stay
If you’ve traveled within the United States, you’re probably familiar with the “3-1-1” rule from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), whereby passengers are limited in terms of the number of liquids, gels, and aerosols, that they can take in their carry-on bags. Each passenger can take up to one quart-size bag of these items, with no liquids being in containers of more than 3.4 ounces (or 100 milliliters).
These restrictions have been in place since 2006, and while they were initially described as temporary, they’re still in place, nearly 20 years later.
The good news is that in some parts of the world, we’re slowly seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. For example, the UK is planning on lifting current liquids restrictions in 2025, coinciding with the full rollout of new security scanners.
Unfortunately don’t expect a similar timeline in the United States. The good news is that the United States does plan on lifting liquids restrictions when new scanners are rolled out. The bad news is that these won’t be rolled out nationwide until 2040 or so. As reported by Travel + Leisure, here’s what a TSA spokesperson had to say:
“TSA is still deploying Computed Tomography (CT) units that are capable of screening larger sizes of liquids, however the agency will not be able to change the current 3-1-1 liquids rule for some time to come, because there are about 2,000 screening lanes in about 430 airports. We are anticipating that it may not be until 2040 that we have CT units fully deployed across the nation and have the capability of changing the requirement across the system.”
So yeah, the liquids restrictions may eventually be lifted, but it’s going to be well over 15 more years until they’re rolled out nationwide. I of course get that the US has so many airports and that replacing all of them takes a lot of time, but am I the only one that things that sounds like a really, really long time?
Like, in some cases, are the same scanners currently in use still going to be in use in the late 2030s? It’s just wild to think that my toddler son will (hopefully) be in college by the these restrictions are changed. Yikes.
These improved TSA machines are a mixed bag
In theory, I of course understand and appreciate the desire to introduce CT scanners with better technology. These units provide better 3D imaging, and have a more sophisticated algorithm, which TSA officers can use to get a better view of a bag’s contents. This should reduce the number of bag checks that are required, and will also eventually lead to liquids restrictions being lifted.
However, am I the only one who also always avoids these scanners at the airport, when given the choice between this and a traditional one? Personally I find them to be so much slower than the old machines:
- It seems that it takes more time for each bag to be screened, so the line doesn’t seem to move very fast
- For many of these machines, every bag has to be placed in a bin, rather than being placed directly on the belt, which adds a layer of complexity
- My least favorite thing is how there are multiple “stations” where you load your belongings onto the belt, and if you’re in one of the stations toward the back, it can take forever until your items are actually screened, since belongings from the first couple of stations often get pulled in front
So yeah, I’m excited that these machines will eventually allow liquids restrictions to be eased, but that’s about it. However, it sounds like we’ll have to suffer through these for another 15+ years before we get the main benefits of the better screening technology.
Bottom line
The TSA plans to lift carry-on liquids restrictions once new security scanners are installed, as is the case in many countries. The catch is that the TSA expects this to take all the way until 2040, which sure is a long time. So while we’ll see some countries in Europe lift these restrictions in the next couple of years, we’ll have to wait 15+ years.
What do you make of the timeline for the TSA easing liquids restrictions?