WASHINGTON - Air passengers arriving from some international airports will no longer have to go through the aggravation of having their checked bags rescreened before boarding connecting flights, under legislation approved by Congress.
The Senate bill that was passed by the House on Wednesday gives the Transportation Security Administration the authority to waive rescreening requirements for flights from those foreign airports that install U.S.-equivalent baggage scanning processes and equipment.
It has yet to be decided which airports will qualify, but U.S. Customs already performs border inspection and clearance of passengers at 14 airports in Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean.
Passengers from those airports need not undergo another physical security check upon arriving in the United States, but their checked bags must be rescreened, leading to long delays and missed connecting flights.
