Airport security guard reveals the simple clothing mistakes you’re making that could cause big delays
AIRPORT security is an annoying but necessary part of air travel.
However, there are ways in which passengers make things much more difficult for themselves than they need to.
Eric Guthier, a guard from the American Transport Security Administration (TSA) revealed how small clothing mistakes can make passing through the airport more of a problem than it needs to be.
Included in that is wearing shoes with complicated laces that take longer to remove and put back on than others.
Eric warned this can hold you up, as well as the people standing in line behind you.
He told Travel + Leisure: “Shoes or boots with lots of laces slow people down prior to the X-ray screening.”
It’s not only shoes that are problematic either, with over-dressers in general making things worse for people at airports.
Eric said that fancier clothing options could increase a passenger’s chances of being assessed further at the security gates.
He continued; “Shirts and pants with elaborate decorations (such as sequins) may make secondary screening more likely.”
To make sure you get through the gates easily, without stress, Eric recommends arriving early and making sure that you’re prepared to pass through the scanners before you get to them.
He explained that disorganised people are the ones who tend to cause the most issues.
He added: “We prefer when passengers arrive with plenty of time to spare, are organised, [and] have their documents ready. When passengers are frenzied, worried, and disorganised, they tend to do things they wouldn’t normally do.”
Passing through airports will soon be much easier for passengers, with security scanners set to be updated.
People will no longer have to stick to strict liquid allowances, nor will they have to remove electronic items like laptops and tablets from their bags.
However, some UK airports are set to miss the deadline for the new scanner upgrades, including London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted and Manchester are all running behind.
A deadline of June 2024 was announced last year, with some smaller transport hubs in the UK putting the scanners in ahead of schedule.
However, one source told The Times that major airports aren’t going to get there on time.
They said: “It’s going to be a struggle for the big airports.
“One of the biggest issues they face is fitting the new scanners and retraining staff without impacting the flow of passengers.”
Manchester Airports Group, which includes Stansted, said: “We continue to make good progress at our airports on the introduction of new security screening equipment, as part of the UK-wide programme.
“This is a complex programme of work requiring the expansion of terminal facilities, while at the same time maintaining operations during construction.
“We are rolling out the new technology lane by lane at Manchester and London Stansted airports, with several new lanes already in operation.”
Heathrow said that it was spending £1billion on the upgrades, and that it was going to focus on on delivering the programme as “quickly as practically possible”.
Gatwick said it would have made massive progress by June, but would complete the programme in early 2025.
Meanwhile, these airport mistakes could make you miss your flight.
And these are the items you should never buy from an airport.