Carry-on rules still confuse passengers

ST. LOUIS -- While packing for his business trip, Paul Stubbs tossed in a pack of matches in case airport security workers seized his cigarette lighter and even brought an electric shaver so he wouldn't have to surrender his disposable razor.

"I made sure there were no sharp objects, no glass, no nothing that could be used as a weapon," the Knoxville, Tenn., man said Thursday in a Lambert Airport smoking lounge.

Fact is, Stubbs could have brought the disposable razor and the nail clippers he purposely left behind, according to the federal government's latest list of barred carry-on items that apparently continue to confuse the flying public since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

While Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler said the agency has tried to publicize its regulations, the expanded list released this week was in response to common passenger questions.

The agency will continue updating the list, which still outlaws explosives, guns -- even toy ones -- as well as knives, ski poles and hockey sticks.

"We're trying to be more helpful to passengers and giving them more of an education so they will know before they get to the airport what is prohibited," Trexler said.

The list reflected a development months ago that still managed to elude even frequent flyers: nail clippers with files attached are permitted in carry-ons, as are eyelash curlers and safety razors, including disposables.

Straight razors and razor blades not in the cartridge are still out.

"Here at the airport, we're still getting questions," American Airlines spokeswoman Julia Bishop-Cross said. "There definitely is still some confusion out there, although it has gotten considerably better" in recent months.