CATSA to relax some onboard prohibitions
CATSA (which is the Canadian airport security) has announced it will change some of its rules
The new CATSA rules will allow passengers to carry tools with shafts shorter than six centimetres and scissors with blades shorter than six centimetres.
Knives of any size or length remain prohibited, and restrictions on the amount of liquids, aerosols and gels remain. In addition, toys that resemble real weapons will continue to be prohibited but those that are clearly toys will be permitted.
CATSA is a mixed bag. The staff are much more professional than TSA, but several times I’ve had to wait at least 5 minutes for my bag to exit the X-Ray because they were having shift change or something. The people who were manning the X-Ray left without clearing the machine. Several minutes later someone else arrived and had to inspect the images, then would allow the stuff to exit the machine. Other times CATSA thought certain items I’d carried for years through TSA looked suspicious. I have a friction mount for my GPS. Apparently the pellets in it resemble who knows what to them. That took several run throughs and several explanations from me as to what it was before they deemed it was safe.
Recently CATSA got barcode scanners and they like to scan your BP frequently. Still no ID checks from them, but your BP is scanned once before you go on the mat that determines who is chosen for additional screening, then again when you get to a lane, then again right before you go through the metal detector. This means if your barcode is blurry you have fun waiting for several minutes for them to scan the stupid thing.