Across the Country, Restrictions Vary

Flyin for the holidays? It may be unsettling to learn that not all the nation’s airports have exactly the same security measures. Every airport bans sharp objects in carry-ons, but Phoenix, for example, has gone one step further by asking passengers not to carry talcum powder (or other white powdeder substances) aboard planes. If you are flying out of Southern California, don’t assume the rules at the airport to return from will be the smae. Here is a brief roundup of what to expect at selected major airports.

Atlanta

Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport (404) 209-1700 https://www.atlanta-airport.com

Hartsfield suggests passengers check with their airline on when to arrive at the airport, how e-tickets are handled and whether curbside check-in is permitted. The airport also advises passengers leaving from Hartsfield to add two hours to check-in time.

Traffic lanes nearest the terminal building remain closed, and people dropping travelers off at the airport should use one of the short-term parking lots to avoid being ticketed. Vehicles may be searched before parking.

--Edith Stanley

Boston

Logan International Airport (800) 23-LOGAN (235-6426) https://www.massport.com/logan/default.asp

Since Sept. 11, the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan airport, has come up with comprehensive security recommendations for travelers, ranging from packing tips to ID and check-in requirements at the airport. Travelers should expect more security personnel and be ready for a hand search of bags before boarding.

Prescriptions, jewelry, travel documents and IDs should be packed in carry-on luggage. IDs and travel documents should be kept easily accessible for review at the check-in counter, security checkpoints and the gate.

Small amounts of toiletries such as hair spray or shaving cream (no more than 16 ounces per container, 75 ounces total) are allowed but should be put in checked luggage to avoid delays at security screenings. Perfume is allowed in carry-ons, but only in containers of 16 ounces or less. There is no curbside parking.

-- Anna M. Virtue

Chicago

O’Hare International Airport (773) 686-2200 https://www.ohare.com

O’Hare requires two forms of government-issued ID--driver’s license, government-issued ID card, birth certificate, passport--at ticket counters. The airport warns travelers to expect longer lines and waiting times--some more than an hour--at security checkpoints. Additional searches are being conducted at the gate. All parking lots are open.

The airport advises passengers to call their airline for up-to-date information.

--John Beckham

Dallas

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (972) 574-8888 https://www.dfwairport.com

Besides the National Guard, canine patrols in the parking lots and terminal restaurants with only plastic cutlery, here’s what travelers at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport can expect:

Passengers can be picked up or dropped off at terminal curbsides as long as someone stays in the car. Airport police are stationed at terminal garages and may conduct random searches of cars. Airport garages with 17,000 parking spaces are open, but the first rows of parking on the upper and lower levels are closed. The closed sections include one-hour parking and spaces for the disabled. Handicapped parkers must go to reduced-rate lots farther from the terminal or to an off-site shuttle lot.

Passengers may be randomly selected to have checked baggage screened by a bomb-detecting machine, and boarding passes will be held until the luggage clears the machine.

The airport recently installed 35-gallon barrels at each of its 17 security checkpoints in four terminals for travelers to get rid of banned items before going through the metal detector. They are meant to speed security checks, and once something is put into a big black barrel, it cannot be retrieved. The barrels are emptied once a day, and their contents destroyed.

“A lot of people haven’t traveled since Sept. 11,” said Ken Capps, vice president of public affairs at DFW airport. To assist passengers, hundreds of volunteer “holiday helpers” dressed in red, white and blue shirts will roam the terminals.

--Lianne Hart

Denver

Denver International Airport (800) 247-2336 https://www.flydenver.com

DIA has set up a telephone line, (303) DIA-TIPS (342-8477), to provide the most current average waiting times at the airport’s three security screening checkpoints. Waiting times for passenger security screening are unpredictable and can be lengthy, airport officials say; they recommend that passengers arrive at the airport no later than three hours before the flight. There is an express line at screening points for passengers with no carry-ons.

At security checkpoints, airport officials advise passengers to remove all metal (jewelry, watches, buckles, coins, pens) and electronic devices before walking through the scanners. All electronic devices will be X-rayed, and all laptop computers must be removed from their cases and X-rayed at checkpoints.

No parking is allowed in the garages within 75 feet of the terminal. People should meet arriving passengers at the Jeppesen Terminal.

--Belen Rodriguez

Miami

Miami International Airport (305) 876-7000 https://www.miami-airport.com

About 90 National Guard soldiers are on duty at Miami International, most of them in the security screening areas. Police officers are on duty outside the terminals and in parking lots.

All vehicles and luggage are inspected in the short-term lots; there are random searches in long-term lots.

Curbside check-ins have been reinstated, but any car left unattended will be towed.

Passengers are advised to place electronic equipment, such as cell phones, CD players and games, in checked luggage to speed up the screening process. Those carrying laptops must remove them from cases when sending them through the scanners.

Inson Kim, public affairs officer at the airport, advises passengers to arrive two hours before their scheduled departure time for domestic flights and three hours for international flights.

--Anna M. Virtue

New York

John F. Kennedy International Airport (718) 244-4444 https://www.panynj.gov/aviation/jfkframe.HTM

La Guardia Airport (718) 533-3401 https://www.panynj.gov/aviation/lgaframe.HTM

Steve Coleman, public affairs officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the land on which the World Trade Towers once stood, said the three airports under its control--John F. Kennedy International, La Guardia and Newark International--are operating under the same FAA security guidelines as other U.S. airports.

While security has been heightened under the guidelines, he said that “security is the responsibility of the airlines.... There is a random search of passengers [beyond the security checkpoint] but the methodology depends on the screening companies.”

Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, public affairs officer of New York state’s National Guard, said that 390 armed personnel are on duty at airports in the state. “We contribute to safety at JFK and La Guardia airports. They provide staffing in a variety of sites in public areas, check-in points mostly,” he said.

Newark International Airport (973) 961-6000 https://www.panynj.gov/aviation/ewrframe.HTM

At Newark International Airport, the New Jersey National Guard is being deployed to increase the security already in place, backing up the screeners employed by the airlines. Col. John Dwyer, public affairs officer for the New Jersey National Guard, described the role of the guard soldiers--75 of them per shift--as being “a second pair of eyes.” Dwyer said the second, random search of carry-on luggage after passengers have passed through the checkpoint is handled discreetly. “It might occur also because the passenger fits some characteristics,” he said. “You will see those screening areas set up beyond the security checkpoints to insure some privacy.”

The airport monorail is operating on a normal schedule, but the airport recommends that you add 30 minutes to your airline’s recommended check-in time.

Parking is available in most lots, but vehicles may be subject to search before parking. The airport is advising people to limit the numbers and types of packages and equipment in vehicles to only those necessary for travel or road safety.

People meeting arriving passengers should park in the hourly or metered lots and meet passengers on the baggage claim level.

--Anna M. Virtue

Phoenix

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (602) 273-3300 https://www.phxskyharbor.com

Passengers are being asked to avoid carrying or packing white powdery substances, such as talcum powder, sugar, coffee creamer, powdery cosmetics and craft products, because such items are adding to screening times, airport officials said. If passengers must carry such items, the airport advises that they be sealed securely in an unbreakable package, such as a strong sealed plastic bag, and not carried in glass or cardboard boxes. The airport asks passengers to pack the item in checked baggage and place it between other items to keep it from bursting or breaking. Passengers are also asked to avoid carrying bottles of liquid through security checkpoints.

Vehicles entering the garages for terminals 3 and 4 will be inspected.

Long lines are possible at airline ticket counters and the security checkpoints at the entrances to the concourses, particularly in Terminal 4.

Luggage lockers are no longer available at the airport.

--John Beckham

St. Louis

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (314) 426-8000 https://www.lambert-stlouis.com

Besides FAA requirements, other measures at Lambert: All baggage for international flights must be checked at the terminal ticket counters.

Lockers are no longer available.

Unattended vehicles are banned near the terminal buildings. Trucks, pickup trucks with campers, SUVs, vans or minivans may drop off passengers at the terminal buildings if someone remains with the vehicle, but they are not permitted in the terminal parking garages and must park at the intermediate lot or long-term parking lots.

--John Beckham

San Francisco

San Francisco International Airport (650) 821-5042 https://www.flysfo.com

Despite an intimidating-looking light-rail construction project outside SFO, the situation inside is orderly and efficient. Parking is plentiful, curbside check-in is available, and passengers can be dropped off and picked up in front of the terminals without hassles. But that doesn’t mean the wait inside will be short.

Although passengers are fewer, so is airline staff to check people in. And with fewer flights scheduled, planes during the holidays are likely to be crowded, airport officials said. The number of passengers at SFO has fallen about 20% since Sept. 11. But airport communications director Ronald Wilson predicted that business the Wednesday before Thanksgiving will be down only 6% to 14% from the same day last year.

For Nov. 21 and the days before Christmas, he suggested that travelers arrive three hours before their flights. Two hours should suffice all other days, he said.

Large new X-ray machines are set up near most of the ticket counters. Passengers in line to check baggage are randomly selected to have their baggage scanned and searched by hand before they are allowed to check in.

SFO’s old international Terminal 2 is closed indefinitely until funds can be raised for a renovation. It helps to know which terminal you will be going to before you park, in order to avoid a long trek through the airport’s eerily abandoned midsection.

After Sept. 11, the airport eliminated about 1,000 parking spaces in its short-term garage. “If the long-term lot fills up, the airport will issue vouchers so people can park in the short-term garage at long-term rates,” Wilson said. “We used to discourage people from parking here, but now we want them to drive. We need the money.”

There are other incentives to spend money at the airport as well. If you spend $20 or more at one of the restaurants or shops located outside the security checkpoints, you get two hours free parking.

--Karen Alexander

Seattle

Seattle Tacoma International Airport (206) 431-4444 https://www.portseattle.org/seatac

Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac) passengers can be dropped off at the upper airport drive, and curbside check-in is permitted, but no one is allowed to park, even briefly. Port of Seattle police are patrolling the drive constantly, and any unattended car will be towed, even if the driver is close by.

Inside the terminal, lines at the security checkpoints are long and move slowly. The checks are handled by the individual airlines, and procedures may vary, said Bob Parker, spokesman for SeaTac. Some airlines may allow passengers with e-tickets through security. All electronic items must be placed inside carry-on luggage to go through the scanner, but laptop computers must be removed from the bag and sent through the scanner separately. The metal detectors have been made more sensitive, and if passengers set off the detector, they will be checked with a hand scanner and patted down.

A few passengers on every flight will be subject to a random search.

“The best thing you can do is check with your airline and see what they will require,” Parker said.

If you are meeting travelers at SeaTac, the airport recommended that you do so at baggage claim rather than at the main terminal.

--Lynn Marshall

Washington, D.C.

The three airports serving the capital--Ronald Reagan Washington National, Dulles International and Baltimore/Washington International--have some common suggestions, among them:

* Passengers using an e-ticket should check with their airline to see if any other document, such as a written confirmation or a printed itinerary, is needed to verify their reservation.

* Passengers should check with their airline, not the airport, for questions on when to arrive and whether curbside check-in is permitted.

Ronald Reagan National Airport (703) 417-8000 https://www.mwaa.com/national

Tom Sullivan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said that Reagan National has the most exacting security measures in the nation. “Also, any of the other airports flying into National have to replicate the same security procedures,” Sullivan said.

Since National is still only flying at about 40% to 45% of its normal schedule, lines to check in are not long.

No parking or waiting is allowed at the curb areas. There is expanded police and canine patrol of secure areas. Passengers are subject to random screening with hand wands at various places, including the gate. As passengers board aircraft, boarding passes and IDs are checked again.

The airport asks that people meet arriving passengers at the north or south information counters in Terminal B/C.

“The one thing we have been saying is that there are a lot of people across the country [who] are flying for the first time since Sept. 11 and possibly the first time since last Thanksgiving,” Sullivan said. “They are not frequent travelers. So rather than getting to the airport and being very surprised, we’re trying to get the word out that there are increased security measures.”

As travelers pack their bags for a trip, Sullivan said, they should question whether any item they are carrying will set off a security alarm. “If it is more of a private item you don’t want exposed to everybody else in line, put it in your checked baggage,” Sullivan said.

Washington Dulles International Airport (703) 572-2700 https://www.mwaa.com/dulles

Since the airport is back to a full flight schedule and passenger loads have been high, lines will be longer at Dulles than at National. Travelers should arrive at the airport three hours before their domestic or international flight.

No parking or waiting at the curb areas is allowed. Anyone meeting passengers should park in the hourly lot and meet on the baggage claim level.

Baltimore/Washington International Airport (410) 859-7207 https://www.bwiairport.com

Curbside check-in is available, but there is no parking at the terminal curb. Only immediate pickup and drop-off of passengers are allowed.

“We have more security screens open, and we feel like we are going to be prepared,” said Melanie Miller, airport spokeswoman. “There are definitely additional searches at the gate.”

Miller said new explosive detection machines should be in place before the Thanksgiving holiday. These huge devices, the first on the East Coast, will replace hand searches of selected check-in luggage. The machines contain X-ray, CAT scan and bomb residue detection systems. She said they should speed up the process at the check-in counters.

-- Edith Stanley