Security procedures continue to evolve for air travelers. Last week we talked about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) increasing security at U.S. airports in response to the incident on the December 25 flight.

Yesterday the TSA implemented new air travel security measures, and these will have an effect on people traveling to the United States from other countries. There will now be more pat downs, carry-on bag searches and random screenings happening in foreign airports for travelers headed to the United States. Travelers from or departing from countries the United States considers a State sponsor of terrorism will receive the highest levels of scrutiny.

The media keeps talking about the prospects of advanced imaging technologies in airports. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if advanced imaging will become a requirement before boarding a flight. There are already some of these machines in use in airports in the U.S. and I know that not everyone is very happy about the idea of widespread use of these new imaging technologies. I haven’t encountered one in my travels yet. Have you? What are they like?

Surely you heard the news last week that a person on board a flight to Detroit set off a device on the plane. Thanks to the heroic actions of the crew and passengers, he was subdued and the plane landed safely. That’s what I call saving Christmas.

When incidents like this happen on planes, usually a change in airport security follows. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued some guidance to the public about this incident and how it will affect you.

The TSA says that they will implement additional screening measures including explosive detection dogs, law enforcement officers, gate screening, and other measures.

But what does all that mean to you? Right now, security checkpoint requirements remain the same for departures from U.S. airports.

You don’t need to do anything differently, just remember to pack well to get through the line faster, follow the liquid rules and keep prohibited items at home.

You may notice additional security measures at the airport, and you know that additional security measures mean it just might take more time to get through the security line. Be sure to give yourself even a little more extra time to get to your flight.

I can’t believe it, but holiday travel time is here already! My family is off to Grandy’s house this year, and luckily her house is just a car ride away. Many, many of you will be flying to your Thanksgiving destinations next week, and if you haven’t been in an airport lately, I recommend you prepare yourself before you leave the house.

There are so many rules and regulations for flyers now.  The rules are in place to keep us safe, but they certainly do make a trip to the airport more complicated.

Before you leave the house, be sure to check airport delays, and also check with your airline about the status of your flight.

Bringing a special dish for the thanksgiving table? Be sure to pack it right, or it won’t be allowed on the flight. Want to get through the security line faster? TSA tells you how to pack to have an easy trip through the airport security checkpoint.

And then there are the rules for traveling with liquids, and the list of things that you’re not allowed to pack in your carry-on bag.

As Jacob says, leave your hand grenades at home.

I hope you have an easy, safe trip this Thanksgiving, but if you have problems along the way, you can always file a complaint.

I sure hope Sam's walk through the security line on her upcoming trip goes smoother than my last one did. 

The TSA airport security screener looked at me sternly. "Miss, I'm going to need to open up your bag for a closer look."  

"Sure thing."  I'm Nothing-to-Hide-Nancy. The worst she was going to find in my carry-on was a stack of neatly-folded dirty clothes and souvenirs from my trip to Albuquerque. The latex-gloved screener carefully and respectfully shifted the contents of my bag until her expression itself shifted from serious to more of a suppressed grin.

"Ma'am," (I was now Ma'am and not Miss. That should have clued me in that there was a problem.) "do you have any, maybe, toiletry samples in your carry-on?" she probed.

"Noooo, I always put those in my checked bag," I said as she unearthed a pile of little bottles of hotel shampoo, conditioner, lotion and mouthwash. Oh no! I forgot. I didn't need to check a suitcase on this short trip and I'd just tossed all the lovely little bottles right into my carry-on bag. I'd dutifully put all the make-up and other gels and liquids I'd brought from home back in a quart-size zip lock bag for their return trip. But those new little bottles of sweet smelling designer toiletries were all over the place.

The screener held up my quart bag and announced "Decision time." My face burned as I made jokes and rushed to stuff a couple of the shampoos and conditioners into the remaining space in the plastic bag and bid a woeful goodbye to the mouthwashes and a lotion. I was raised by parents who lived through the Depression and World War II and who engraved on my soul the idea that you didn't throw useful stuff away. Ever.

Now, I'm a frequent enough flyer that I know the Transportation Security Administration's "3-1-1" drill: liquids and gels can be in containers of three ounces or less, as many as will fit into a one-quart size zip lock bag, one bag per person. But I got greedy with those little bottles of peppermint goodness from my fancy hotel and I just plain forgot that my bag checking routine had changed.

Whether airplanes are a regular part of your life or you're only on them for an annual vacation, save yourself and everybody in line behind you time and do what I did when I got home from my trip: bookmark USA.gov's Air Travel page. It's got the most up-to-date information on what you can and can't take, wear or do on a commercial airplane.  And you know, those rules are always changing. For instance, as of January 1, fliers are no longer allowed to pack spare lithium batteries in checked luggage. They're ok in your carry-on bag but rattling around in your checked bag, they can be a fire or explosion hazard. I'm an amateur photographer. I was going to pack spare batteries for my trip to LA next week. Now I know how to do it.  

Are you a smoker?  You can carry a working cigarette lighter onto an airplane, but you can't put one in your checked baggage unless it's in a special carrying case. Matches? One pack only, and only in your carry-on.

Those comfy gel shoe inserts? Leave them home. They won't make it through security. Built-in gel heels in your shoes? Those are ok.

There are so many no-nos to keep track of!  But TSA has a brand new way that you and I can help them figure out how to make traveling by air a little easier: a new blog, Evolution of Security. Check it out and chime in. After only a week online, changes are already being made in screening procedures, thanks to reader comments. Congratulations, to the Evolution of Security gang, and welcome to the world of government blogging! 

Pardon the interruption from your regularly scheduled holiday season, but today is Wright Brothers Day. You don’t have to deck your house with paper airplane streamers, but it’s worth remembering for a moment or 11 seconds to be exact.

Eleven seconds is how long Orville Wright flew his “glider” at the bottom of sandy Big Kill Devil Hill in North Carolina at 10:35 a.m. 104 years ago today. Before noon that day the Wright Brothers would also make the second, third and fourth successful powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine.

Wright Brothers National Memorial now stands near the spot where Orville went airborne that day. I say near because it’s not in the exact spot where the flights occurred since sand had covered most of the area when witnesses went to retrace it in 1929, but it is the site. To make the site permanent the monument builders grew grass to build a foundation for the memorial.

When I visited the memorial a couple of years ago the hill, wind and smell of the ocean gave me a sense of how secluded and exciting those first flights were.

The Wright Brothers’ flights were a far cry from today’s excitement of airport screenings, delays, lost baggage and other air travel concerns. The links I provided in the last sentence or the Transportation Security Administration’s air travel tips page and Pueblo's fly rights should help make your flight experience more like Orville’s.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.