Airport Security Checks Go Smoothly Ahead of Thanksgiving Holiday

If you’re planning on traveling for the holiday or are worried that the new body scans might make things a bit too difficult for you at the airport, worry no more: a spokesperson for the busiest airport in the US says everything is going just smoothly.

A spokesperson for the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport says for USA Today that security checks are not problematic and that the average waiting time is of about 10 minutes, which means you shouldn’t be late to wherever you’re going.

“Hartsfield expects to handle 1.7 million passengers through Monday, [spokesperson Katena] Carvajales said. So far, she said, the crush of people hasn’t led to long waits at security lines. Nor have there been any protests. The average wait at checkpoints there was less than 10 minutes Tuesday,” USA Today notes.

The introduction of the new body scans, which allow officials to see through passengers’ clothing, has not made things any more complicated at airports – at least not in terms of the time spent to go through security check.

Not even giving the more thorough pat-down (to about 3% of passengers) is prolonging the waiting time at the airport, even with increased traffic for the holidays, the same report notes.

However, protests are still being heard about the recently introduced advanced scanners (as of November 1), which allow to see through clothing, in a bid to help security personnel detect hidden weapons and other possible threats.

“Loose-knit groups on the Internet are urging travelers to boycott the body scanners at airports today, which would force the TSA to perform more of the time-consuming pat-downs than normal,” USA Today notes.

“TSA Administrator John Pistole said that he’s concerned that the boycotts could trigger delays,” the same report notes. So far, nothing of delays has been heard.

“Since the procedure went into effect at all airports Nov. 1, the TSA has received about 2,000 complaints from passengers about either the new searches or the body scanners, Pistole said Tuesday. About 35 million people have taken flights during that time, he said,” the publication adds.