The world has had to deal with some form of the “3-1-1 liquids rule” since 2006, when British authorities reportedly stopped a plot to blow up planes headed for the United States with liquid explosives.
It’s been over 16 years since then, and there are finally some glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks to improved technology, some airports around the world have said they’d no longer require passengers to carry only small amounts of liquids in their carry on bags. One made such an announcement in March, 2022 and another one in July. Then in November, the UK government announced its plans to end liquid rules throughout the United Kingdom.
If you read Your Mileage May Vary with any regularity, you may recall that when I asked representatives at TSA when the 3-1-1 liquid rules would end here in the United States, their response was less than optimistic. In fact, it sounded very much like, “It’s not going to ever happen.”
Well, dang.
So, to change gears for a second, I don’t know if you’re aware, but there’s a new global news website that started in 2022. It’s called Semafor. Here’s how they describe themselves:
In our increasingly interconnected world, journalism needs to deliver common facts to divergent audiences. Our biggest stories, and greatest crises, are global: from climate change to pandemics, rising inequality to supply chain disruption, political instability to the influence of social media. In response to those challenges, we’re building a new kind of trusted news source for this interconnected world, based on journalistic transparency and a platform that delivers shared facts while giving voice to a range of informed, competing views.
Semafor’s goal is to offer transparent news, with a specific structure that, “makes clear the lines between facts, analysis, opinion, counter-narratives, and global perspectives.” They’re also going for distilled views and global perspectives.
Semafor was founded by Ben Smith (the former media columnist of the New York Times and the founding Editor-in-Chief of Buzzfeed News) and Justin B. Smith (the former CEO of Bloomberg Media Group and past President of both Atlantic Media and Quartz). They’ve also hand picked a staff with equally as impressive past work histories.
Needless to say, the people at Semafor have many more, and oftentimes much better contacts than us here at Your Mileage May Vary (then again, how many of Semafor’s people have the ability to text Randy Petersen, hmmm???)
Anyway, it appears that Semafor was also curious about when the U.S. would end its 3-1-1 liquids rule, so they asked. The response they got was different from the one we got. From Semafor (boldface is mine, for emphasis):
As of now, 191 airports in the U.S. currently have CT scanners, and TSA plans on installing more of them through November 2023.
Many of these locations no longer require passengers to remove large electronic items like laptops from bag during screening. However, there is no impending change to the TSA’s current liquid policy: a maximum of 100 milliliters per item that can all fit within a clear, quart-sized, resealable bag.
“The introduction of new screening technologies continues to play a significant role in the evolution of aviation security,” a TSA spokesperson told Semafor in an email. “While we have [CT scanners] deployed at more checkpoints, we are years away from announcing a change to the current liquids rule.”
Semafor didn’t specify who the email was from. But I’m sure their contacts include someone who has significantly more knowledge of what’s happening (and going to happen) at the TSA than whoever oversees the agency’s social media and AskTSA.
Anyway, it’s still not great news – we’re looking at years before we can bring a 12 ounce bottle of mouthwash. But “years” is still better than “ain’t never gonna happen,” y’know?
I’ll take what I can get.
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3 comments
Not clear what the end result is here. Is there really good news? “Years away” is not good news by any means. Or am I interpreting something wrong? It’s unclear what you’re trying to say.
It’s a possibility as opposed to “not going to happen.” Something, even years away, is still better than nothing. 🙂
Got it! Thanks!