ASTA applauds new baggage bill
ASTA is praising the House of Representatives for its unanimous passage of The No-Hassle Flying Act of 2012 (S. 3542) to eliminate duplicative baggage screening for passengers arriving in the U.S. from so-called "preclearance" airports connecting to domestic flights.
The bill, sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) in the Senate and Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) in the House, had passed the Senate (also unanimously) on November 29, and now heads to President Obama’s desk.
"Travel agents sell the majority of airline tickets in the U.S. and thus have a vested interest in this legislation’s goal of maximizing the efficiency of baggage screening procedures," said Nina Meyer, ASTA’s president and interim CEO.
The No-Hassle Flying Act would let the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) decide whether baggage on flights coming from foreign airports where U.S. Customs and Border Protection has established "preclearance operations" (in Canada, the Caribbean and Ireland) need to be re-screened in the United States before continuing onto another flight. TSA’s authority to make these decisions would be limited to flights originating from countries that have an agreement with the U.S. requiring security standards and protocols that are determined to be comparable to U.S. security measures.
Passengers flying from a preclearance airport can connect to a domestic flight without passing through security, but their bags must be rescreened. That means that passengers flying – often on short or late-night layovers – must exit security, claim their bags from baggage claim, recheck them, and go through security again. The new Act would streamline this process and help passengers avoid missing flights on tight connections.
ASTA was a member of a broad coalition of lobbying organizations for the bill.
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