Scanner protests could add to holiday chaos at Philly airport

Crowded airports and long lines are to be expected when traveling on Thanksgiving. But air travel this holiday could be more unpredictable than ever.

A mini-revolt is erupting across the country, among groups ranging from pilot unions to civil libertarians to ordinary fliers, over 385 new advanced-imaging scanners now part of Homeland Security screening in 68 airports, including one scanner at Philadelphia International Airport, in Terminal F.

A grass-roots movement has sprung up on the Internet that calls for a nationwide "opt-out" protest on Wednesday, one of the busiest travel days of the year. It urges air travelers to refuse to be scanned. Those who decline will be subjected to a full-body pat-down - which critics liken to a virtual strip search. (Some who have experienced the pat-down, however, say it's no big deal.)

A 7 p.m. opt-out rally is planned at Philadelphia airport, organized by James Babb, an Eagleville, Montgomery County, businessman.

The idea is to cause havoc and delay, since the pat-downs take much longer than body scans.

Will the hoopla result in missed flights and foregone turkey dinners? It's doubtful. Most people just want to get where they are going.

With the holiday season here, and more Americans expected to fly - 24 million, up 3.5 percent, over the Thanksgiving travel period - the sprint to the plane could be fraught with gridlock.

Philadelphia airport officials and the Transportation Security Administration say they will be ready, with adequate staffing to manage increased passenger volumes and any renegade demonstrators.

"We always take an all-hands-on-deck approach to the holidays," said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis. "All the checkpoints will be fully staffed. We can't really speculate on how the opt-out-day movement will impact wait times, but we are aware of it and we are prepared."

Add to the new security measures jam-packed planes, and passengers cramming more into their carry-on bags to avoid checked-luggage fees - and not all bags fitting into overhead bins - airports and airlines have a word of caution: Give yourself plenty of time to go through security.

Philadelphia airport expects 700,000 travelers to pass through, beginning Sunday through Monday, Nov. 29.

The part of screening that takes the longest is not walking through a metal detector or standing in the imaging machine a few seconds, but emptying pockets of change, removing shoes, and screening carry-on bags.