American Airlines is the first US carrier to pilot a new program that sounds pretty awesome, though the logistics are a bit confusing, and I wonder if it’s as great as it sounds…
Skip security & immigration at DFW on select flights
Generally speaking, when you arrive internationally in the United States, you have to clear immigration, collect your checked bag (even if you’re connecting), clear immigration, and then reclear security (if you’re connecting).
It can be a time consuming process, especially if you don’t have Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Historically, the only exception to this policy has been for those arriving from foreign airports with a US Preclearance facility, where you go through all of those formalities before departure.
Well, we can now add another exception to the list. American has introduced “One Stop Security” (OSS), specifically for those flying on the airline nonstop between London Heathrow (LHR) and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW). This is being done as a partnership between the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the UK Department for Transport (DfT).
This process allows passengers traveling on this route to clear customs right at the arrival gate. Passengers can then proceed directly to their connecting flight without reclaiming and rechecking their checked bags, and without passing through TSA security. Checked bags are automatically transferred to the connecting flight.
This is a first-of-its-kind program, and is expected to cut connections times by more than half, dramatically improving the customer journey. The airline claims that this is possible “by leveraging advanced technology and working with vendor partners BagCheck and Brock Solutions,” and that this process is “further enhancing safety, security and operational efficiency across the process.”
American is exploring opportunities to expand OSS to additional flights at US airports in the future. Here’s how American Chief Operating Officer David Seymour describes this:
“One Stop Security is one of the most forward-thinking enhancements we can bring to international travel — and importantly, to our customers — as it delivers a level of convenience and time-savings that’s never been available before to customers connecting from international flights. With this game-changing program and thanks to our federal partners at CBP and TSA, along with DFW Airport, our customers will spend significantly less time worrying about an onerous connection process and more time enjoying their travel journey.”
This sounds pretty awesome, I think?
Obviously this sounds absolutely incredible. I mean, who wouldn’t want to skip having to clear immigration in the arrivals hall, collect bags, reclear security, etc.? However, I’m a bit puzzled by the logistics:
- Are passports checked on the jet bridge, with immigration officers stamping them? Or is everything just based on pre-screening, since officials knows who is onboard the flight?
- Does each passenger still have to interact with an immigration officer, and if so, isn’t there a long line to get off the plane, given the bottleneck this creates?
- What happens if someone (or their belongings) need extra screening? Are there enough immigration officers to essentially keep them separate, and then presumably escort them to the standard immigration facility, or…?
I love innovation, and this sounds great, but I just struggle to see how this scales in a way where it can be widely useful. In that sense it’s sort of like the current I like iteration of sustainable aviation fuel. It’s obviously much more labor intensive to have immigration officers specifically come to a gate to screen passengers. Who is footing the bill for this?
I’m tempted to fly this route just to experience this. But if anyone has any firsthand experiences to share, that would be much appreciated as well!
Bottom line
American is the first US airline to offer the “One Stop Security” concept, whereby those traveling on the carrier’s London to Dallas flight don’t have to go through the standard immigration and baggage process on arrival.
Instead, passengers will be screened on the jet bridge (in some form), and can then go on their way, with their bags being checked to the final destination. This sounds like an awesome concept, though I wonder if it’ll ever become anything more than a pilot…
What do you make of this “One Stop Security” concept?
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