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Travelers face the new reality of flying

Friday, August 11, 2006

(New York-WABC, August 11, 2006) (WABC) -- For the nearly two million a day airline passengers in the U.S., there is now more security and more delays. Some passengers are being advised to get to the airport five hours before their flights.

For the first time, the terror threat level has been raised to red, although it only applies for U.S. bound flights from the U.K.

All other domestic and international flights are now at threat level "Orange".

Passengers have to deal with this beefed up security.

Eyewitness News reporter Lisa Colagrossi is live at Kennedy Airport with the story.

Security at JFK Airport remains at its highest level because that is where the bulk of international flights are handled.

National Guard troops are at the airport and will be there for some time to come. They are going to be helping with the new security measures along with trying to get flight to London back on schedule.

As of this morning, British Airways has cancelled six flights, three inbound and three outbound. While other airlines that do flight to London are continuing their flights but of course, there are extensive delays.

As always, contact your air carrier before coming to the airport for any flight.

We now go over to Newark Airport where Eyewitness News' Joe Torres is.

Today seems to be better than yesterday and Newark Liberty Airport.

The flights to London are listed as "on time" this morning, and the lines seem to be not as lengthy as yesterday.

At about 5:30 this morning you could see that the lines were at the ticket counter instead of far back. People today seem to have their bags packed correctly with the banned items no in their "carry-on" bags but in their "checked luggage".

There is also more security, more staffers and personnel to help out with the increased scrutiny.

Throughout the airport signs are posted clearly listing what is banned and what is okay.

This is a far cry from last night.

Passenger: "My mother is supposed to go to the Dominican Republic. She's supposed to go to terminal C, but it's at terminal B. We don't know what's going on."

The banned items includes "all liquids" whether it be water, beverages, suntan lotions, creams, toothpaste, hair gel, basically anything that falls under the category as liquid.

Again remember, the banned items cannot go in your "carry-on" luggage. Put it in your bags that will be checked, it will get your through the the process much, much quicker.

Nonetheless, you still want to give yourself three hours of extra time heading out to the airport.

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