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Changes in Electronics Screening at Airport Security Checkpoints

TSA

As one of the year’s busiest air travel periods heats up, the Transportation Security Administration is putting in place new procedures for screening electronics. The changes were announced earlier this year and are now reaching Iowa airports.

Passengers at TSA checkpoints will now be required to do with their e-readers, computer tablets and DVD players what they have long been doing with their laptops. Carrie Harmon is the regional public affairs manager for the TSA.

“Passengers will be asked to take electronics that are larger than a cell phone out of their carry-on bag and put them into bins,” she says.

Harmon, says nothing has changed as far as what passengers can bring through checkpoints.

“The only thing that has changed is they will be asked to take electronics that are larger than a cell phone out of their bags, so we recommend they pack them at the top of their bags so it’s easier to take them out,” she says.

The agency has determined officers can better inspect carry-on bags with the electronics removed. TSA announced the changes in security checks in July and has been rolling them out across the country. They have been fully implemented at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids. They will take effect at Des Moines International in January.