Coming soon to an airport near you: Travelers will now have to place their iPads, tablets, Kindles, portable game consoles and any other electronic gadget bigger than a cellphone on a conveyor belt, heading for X-ray.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been piloting this increased level of security at 10 airports, and has now decided to roll out the requirement nationwide.
TSA cited “an increased threat” as the reason for the move.
“Whether you’re flying to, from or within the United States, TSA is committed to raising the baseline for aviation security by strengthening the overall security of our commercial aviation network to keep flying as a safe option for everyone,” said Huban Gowadia, TSA acting administrator, in a statement.
As the new procedure is phased in, TSA officers will ask passengers to take out their small electronics and place them in a bin, with nothing on top or below—as they have for laptops for years, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
The new rules apply only to standard screening lanes and not to TSA pre-check fliers.
Officials banned carry-on laptops on flights connecting to eight countries in the Middle East and Africa in March. But earlier this month, U.S. officials resumed allowing laptops inside the cabin for passengers coming from those countries, saying they had complied with new Homeland Security standards.
