New "Family Lanes" at U.S. Airports Are a Boon For Both Road Warriors and Casual Travelers this Holiday Season

New "family lanes" at airports make holiday travel easier

Family lanes have been introduced at 48 airports across the country to help make travel easier for those passengers with small children and those with medical needs that require them to travel with medically necessary liquids. Medically necessary liquids include insulin, baby formula, prescription medications, contact lens solution, and cough syrup. These new family lanes have been designed to help passengers travel more comfortably through security screening and at their own pace. The extra lanes increase convenience for typical passengers who can sail smoothly through the airport's security precautions more quickly. It also enhances the effectiveness of the security measures as separate lines for those with special needs can get more attention. Family lanes are part of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Diamond Self-Selection program. Most lanes will have a "diamond" or a "green" indicator that those lanes are for special purposes.

Families and special medical needs

This holiday season as travel is expected to rise with less expensive air fares to a variety of destinations, the TSA's advent of the new family lanes will help families and individuals with special medical needs to process through security screening via a separate lane. This helps all parties involved as families and medical passengers can go through the screening process more at their own pace and with specialized attention. Those individuals who are traveling with gels, aerosols, and medically necessary liquids in excess of three ounces can utilize the family lanes as well. For those passengers adhering to the 3-1-1 rules and regulations on liquids, no changes will be made to the screening processes.

Family lanes have been highly successful

This new method of moving passengers along more easily and with fewer hassles is catching on quickly. The lanes opened on November 20 and are expected to remain in place permanently. Every large and mid-size airport is expected to utilize this new technique of screening passengers to help move lines along in a timelier manner. Many airports started operating through separate lanes on their own as they recognized the struggles some passengers were having getting through the security lines in an efficient manner. Undergoing the screening process in a hurry or at a rapid pace can cause undue stress on some travelers.

Expert lanes and casual lanes

Many airports are also utilizing lanes for expert and savvy travelers, and casual travelers, as well as those with families and medical requirements. While the family lanes move slower than the other two types of lanes, most families prefer the adjusted pace as they juggle luggage, paperwork, toys, and other necessities, as well as their small tots. Several airports will offer staff to assist parents in their journey through the airport system with their little ones.

Scanners can screen large liquids

Family lanes at 45 of the biggest airports will also utilize specialized scanners that can screen large containers of liquids that are medically necessary, such as baby formula and contact lens solution. Passengers will be allowed to carry liquids in excess of the three-ounce rule, but they will have to pass through a family lane with a scanner. Family lanes are great efforts by the airports and the TSA to help alleviate some travelers' woes as they struggle to get through an airport these days with all the stringent security precautions that are necessary. Additional technological breakthroughs in how items are screened are anticipated to ease restrictions on liquids even further by the fall of 2009, according to the TSA.

 

More Business Travel News & Updates from Convention Trip.com

---