If you were hoping the next generation of airport security scanners would spell the end of onerous liquid restrictions, think again. The TSA has warned that its “3-1-1” liquid restrictions will likely remain in effect until 2040 as technology is slowly updated at airports across the nation.

TSA: Liquid Restrictions Will Continue Through 2040

Liquid restrictions have now been part of the travel experience for 17 years, introduced overnight after an alleged 2006 plot to use hydrogen peroxide as an explosive onboard an airplane. The proposed plan was to carry a cocktail of liquids on a plane inside standard drink containers and then mix them once in the air to create the explosion.

Instantly, British and US officials restricted liquids and in the USA, those rules have never been stopped. It was hoped that a new generation of 3D scanners already widely deployed in the United Kingdom would mark an end to the liquid ban, but after a temporary reprieve, it is back.

Addressing the situation in the USA, a TSA spokesperson told Travel + Leisure:

“TSA is still deploying Computed Tomography (CT) units that are capable of screening larger sizes of liquids, however the agency will not be able to change the current 3-1-1 liquids rule for some time to come, because there are about 2,000 screening lanes in about 430 airports. We are anticipating that it may not be until 2040 that we have CT units fully deployed across the nation and have the capability of changing the requirement across the system.”

Taxpayers in the USA and across the world spend billions on liquid screening equipment that seeks to minimize a threat that I find difficult, if not impossible, to even quantify. Follow the money…

By this point, I’ve used these machines often both inside the USA and outside and do not find them particularly faster or more efficient than older technology. In fact, I find it slower, though I guess it will theoretically make the process easier for those without TSA PreCheck.

I’ve grown rather morose about airport security theatre in the USA, mostly insulated thanks to CLEAR and Pre-Check, but is all seems so unnecessary to me. While I’m very thankful US travelers don’t face an additional security checkpoint to enter an airline terminal like in many parts of the developing world, I do question whether the cost/benefit analysis of the burdensome and expensive security apparatus we have created via the TSA provides any additional layers of security beyond a psychological security blanket.

CONCLUSION

If you were hoping for an imminent relaxation of the carry-on liquid restrictions in the USA, think again. The TSA has warned that current restrictions will remain in effect until 2040 (and it goes anything like RealID, which could mean 2050-60).

Finally, one tip for the TSA. I would hope that if these machines are to be trusted (and for the billion dollars we’ve spent on them, I certainly hope so…), liquid restrictions could be removed on a rolling basis as the machines are introduced. But the TSA must also look closely at the problem with these machines in Europe and reject them if they do not work as intended.