The Transportation Security Administration at Boston's Logan Airport is expecting a busy week ahead as school vacation week begins for many families in Massachusetts.
Some people are flying for the first time in more than a year.
"I’m nervous with all the COVID regulations but I’m excited to visit my aunt and uncle, so that will be fun," traveler Angelina Medici said.
But getting through airport security looks a little different than it did during the pre-COVID era, with many procedures made to be touch-less.
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“They will have you hold your phone up and they won’t touch it," traveler Sophie Meads said. "You have to hold things up and show them instead of grabbing them.”
Here's what travelers should expect at the security checkpoint:
Instead of handing a photo ID and boarding pass to a TSA agent, passengers will now scan the documents themselves. TSA agents sit behind plexiglass booths.
Masks are required while traveling, but agents will ask people to lower their face covering to confirm identities. The lines might seem longer, but according to the TSA, agents are just spacing people out to maintain social distance.
"They might come in and the optics might not be the greatest, but the lines are moving," Michael Iudice of the TSA said. "It’s good to be prepared when they come to the ticket and document checker. Have the ID ready, boarding passes out, things like that."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising against travel unless people are fully vaccinated.
Amid the uptick in travel, the TSA is looking to hire about 6,000 agents nationwide.
