The Transportation Security Administration is preparing for another record-breaking summer travel season at Albany International Airport.
The TSA says more than 239 million passengers and crew members traveled nationwide during the 2017 summer season. At Albany International, the agency screens approximately 4,500 passengers a day, which is expected to jump 10 percent this summer. With the increase comes a greater focus on safety. Bart Johnson is TSA’S upstate New York Federal Security Director. He says the current threat level in the United States is medium.
“Unfortunately there’s a lot of individuals and organizations out there still to this day trying to cause harm, particularly to aviation and also to the American public as they travel to meet their families. So it’s important and imperative I would say that the public be aware of their surroundings and if they see something suspicious report it. In other words, see something say something,” says Johnson.
At a press conference at Albany International Monday, Johnson highlighted the continued rollout of enhanced screening procedures to aid in threat detection.
“And that's where now the officers are asking passengers to take out anything larger than a cell phone to include an e-reader, to include a Kindle, a laptop and that once again is based on the threat, and it allows the officer to get a much clearer, concise look at the device to check for tampering and it declutters the bag,” says Johnson.
Johnson says knowing what you packed, being aware of the rules, arriving early for your flight and complying with airport security will allow for a faster and more efficient checkpoint experience. He says carelessness and not knowing what is in your bag are the top reasons for delays.
“Unfortunately we average about one handgun a month in upstate New York — where somebody actually packs and presents for screening a loaded handgun in a carry-on bag and often times much more often than that; there’s knives within that baggage,” says Johnson.
Brenda DeJesus is the Supervisor of Transportation Security at Albany International.
“Any electronic that is larger than a cellphone, so those are your Kindles, your e-readers, your tablets, your iPads – place those also into a bin by themselves in a layer, you can put more than one into a bin just make sure they are not stacked on top of each other,” says DeJesus.
DeJesus offered tips for moving through security.
“Your 3-1-1 compliant liquids are still OK to bring through checkpoint, just make sure they are in your clear bag like this. You can also place them right into the bin, onto the conveyer belt. Please don’t leave those kinds of things inside of your luggage,” says DeJesus.
Tuesday, airport officials announced new service from low-cost carrier Frontier from Albany to Orlando and Denver.
For more helpful tips visit tsa.gov.
