By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Wednesday proposed new airport baggage screening systems and technology updates at checkpoints to improve security and shorten wait times as air travel hits records.
Senator Jerry Moran, Republican chair of a subcommittee on aviation, along with Democratic Senators Chris Van Hollen and Michael Bennet and Republican John Boozman, proposed spending $500 million annually on explosive detection systems for checked suitcases
and $250 million annually for technology improvements at airport security checkpoints.
That money would come from existing fees paid by passengers -- $5.60 per each one-way ticket. Last year the fees raised $4.5 billion. The senators said that more than $13 billion in revenue from the fees has been diverted to non-security uses since 2014.
Air travel set a record in 2024 and is expected to set a new one this year as air travel has boomed this summer.
"Increased air travel, coupled with lack of investment in security checkpoints and aging systems, has resulted in outdated screening technology and longer security lines," Moran said.
Airlines for America -- a trade group that includes American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and others -- praised the bill as "common-sense legislation that returns the fees that travelers pay for security to their original, intended purpose: improving security and facilitation for travelers."
Sharing the goal of reducing delays, the Transportation Security Administration said this month it would stop requiring passengers to remove their shoes at checkpoints. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also raised the possibility that passengers may be allowed to bring greater volumes of liquids through security checkpoints.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and Cynthia Osterman)
