There’s nothing fun about traveling during the holidays—especially Thanksgiving. Crowds are immense. People are cranky. And now, in addition to all of that, the airport security line could be a new sort of nightmare.
The Transportation Security Administration is in the midst of phasing in new procedures that could increase wait times in security lines at airports across the country, according to Politico. Among them: Travelers are now required to remove any electronics larger than a cellphone from their carry-on bags and place them in a separate bin. (That’s a significant change from just laptops.)
The procedures have been rolling out across the country for a while, but are finally starting to go nationwide – and that could result in some notable travel headaches when people try to get home. TSA Administrator David Pekoske told Politico that travelers could experience some of the longest wait times of the year on Sunday.
The new regulations come after a recent investigation of TSA’s effectiveness in finding dangerous items showed many holes in the group’s procedures.
If there’s any bright side for travelers, it’s that officials don’t expect the additional delays to be on the same scale as the massive lines people saw last year.
