A pilot program underway at London Heathrow Airport could be a preview of a lower-hassle future for many connecting international travelers.
Since Feb. 4, flyers traveling through Heathrow to a third country, either from Dallas-Fort Worth on American Airlines or from Atlanta on Delta or Virgin Atlantic, have been able to transfer directly to their connecting gate without claiming checked bags and being rescreened.
“Each of our flights that land in Heathrow from Dallas have about 100 to 150 connecting passengers,” said Gary Tomasulo, American’s chief security officer. “We’ve gotten nothing but amazing feedback from our customers. It’s saving them anywhere between 30 and 40 minutes.”
U.S. flyers transiting through the U.K. normally have to reclaim checked bags and go through a new security screening before transferring on, a protocol that differs, at least in some cases, from procedures for connecting through an EU airport to another EU destination.
Under the Heathrow pilot program, American Airlines flyers connecting to an outbound British Airways flight land in the airport’s Terminal 3 and then board a bus to Terminal 5. Their luggage is transferred just like it is with a normal domestic connection, while flyers stay within the secure portion of the airport.
The Heathrow program is the first approved by the TSA under the One-stop Security pilot program, which Congress established in late 2022. The legislation allows for up to five other tests at foreign airports to be conducted before the end of 2028. It also allows for the TSA, in coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to conduct similar trials at U.S. airports.
The program’s next implementation is expected to come early this summer, when flyers returning to the U.S. from Heathrow and connecting through Dallas or Atlanta will be able to connect onward without rescreening or retrieving and rechecking bags.
For inbound U.S. arrivals, the process will be slightly more complicated than it is at Heathrow. Two Customs agents deploy to the arriving gate to clear connecting passengers, Tomasulo said. Meanwhile, officials at Heathrow will have sent images of the checked baggage on that flight for Customs to review.
But once the flyers are cleared at the gate, they’ll be able to go straight to their next gate, only reclaiming bags when they arrive at their final destination.
One-stop isn’t the only initiative underway that is geared toward easing the journey for connecting international flyers.
American is the first participant in Custom’s Remote Baggage Screening Initiative. Launched on April 9 for the airline’s service from Sydney to Los Angeles, it also involves the agency reviewing checked bag images while the plane is en route so that connecting customers don’t have to reclaim and then recheck.
But One-stop is more complex, since it also involves the TSA and alleviates the need for passengers to be rescreened.
Launching the Heathrow pilot was a challenging process, Tomasulo said. Under the One-stop program, security standards and protocols between the U.S. and the foreign airport have to be brought into alignment. It took a couple years of discussions for U.K. and U.S. officials, in concert with the participating airports, to reach an accommodation, he said.
One-stop Security advocates tout the program not only for its obvious travel experience benefits but also as a way to enhance safety.
“It’s a game changer for aviation security,” said Ryan Propis, the U.S. Travel Association’s vice president of security and facilitation. “You raise the standard around the world. It creates more alignment internationally.”
One-stop Security will also increase efficiency within the TSA and Customs, he said, allowing those agencies to use their staffing resources elsewhere.
Propis mentioned airports such as Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Seoul, as well as gateways in Australia and New Zealand, as potential expansion cities for the international portion of the pilot program.
In a report last month, U.S. Travel criticized the slow implementation pace of the trial and called on the U.S. and foreign partners to take a more flexible and innovative approach as well as for improved coordination between the TSA and Customs.
Propis said the trade group is also calling on Congress to proactively extend the program beyond its 2028 expiration.
Tomasulo said American is eager to expand the pilot. Once the initial U.S. procedures are approved in Dallas and Atlanta for westbound flights from Heathrow, the airline will work to expand its offering into hubs in New York JFK, Miami and Charlotte.
“American Airlines has been at the forefront of this,” he said. “We’ve worked closely with these two governments. We constantly work to improve the passenger experience while making sure security is at the highest level.”
By
By
By
