Airline passengers will no longer be asked security questions

WASHINGTON -- Airline passengers will no longer be asked the routine security questions about whether they have kept a close eye on their baggage.

Ticket agents have been required for the past 16 years to ask passengers two questions: "Has anyone unknown to you asked you to carry an item on this flight?" and "Have any of the items you are traveling with been out of your immediate control since the time you packed them?"

The questions are being phased out because they create a hassle and have never prevented a bombing or hijacking, said James Loy, head of the Transportation Security Administration.

"Over the years, they have lost whatever original value they contributed and can now be safely eliminated," Loy said Wednesday.

The questions take about 20 seconds to ask and that adds up to a longer wait for someone standing in line behind 20 people, Loy said.

The TSA, which was created after Sept. 11 to oversee aviation security, has already begun to notify the airlines of the decision, Loy said. "They are delighted," he said.

David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said passengers would be delighted, too.

"It's about time," Stempler said.

Decision criticized

But Paul Hudson, executive director of the advocacy group Aviation Consumer Action Project, said the TSA made a terrible decision.

"The questions were meant to stop terrorists from using dupes and they successfully deterred and prevented terrorists from using this method for the past 10 years or more," Hudson said.

A spokesman for the major airlines said ticket agents were still asking the questions on Thursday because they hadn't received official notification about its elimination. Until then, they'll be asking the questions, said Michael Wascom, spokesman for the Air Transport Association.