After the 9/11 incident, U.S. airports have undergone earth-shaking changes; 25 years later, new policy adjustments are bringing back some formerly banned practices.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that in the future, people without tickets will be allowed to pass through the security check and go to the boarding gate to meet or see off relatives and friends.
The Transportation Security Administration is also considering allowing some U.S. travelers to carry filled water bottles through security checks. This would reverse a policy put in place in 2006 after a failed terrorist plot.
An aviation safety expert told the BBC that these changes are one of the most significant adjustments in aviation safety in decades, and the reason behind them is likely to be technological progress rather than a decline in safety standards.
Americans who participate in the TSA PreCheck program or hold a "known traveler number" will be the first to benefit from these new measures. These passengers originally need to go through the US government's review process in order to receive faster security checks at US airports.
People who are eligible for the U.S. Pre-Screening Program and wish to go to the gate without a ticket can apply online one to three days before their scheduled arrival date.
TSA announced this week that the Gateside TSA PreCheck program will be rolled out at 13 airports across the United States.
"This new program brings back those moments that once defined air travel by making it easier for people to greet and see off family and friends at the gate, catch up with friends during layovers, and enjoy dining and shopping along the way," the TSA wrote on its website.
Jeff Price, an aviation safety expert and professor at Metro State University Denver, told the BBC that the policy changes after 9/11 were aimed at reducing the number of people security personnel needed to check.
"This helps speed up customs clearance and allows us to focus more on the passengers taking the flight," he said.
But he said technological advances now mean those policies can be readjusted.
In addition to restoring non-passenger access to the boarding area, according to US media reports, the Trump administration is also studying allowing passengers who are eligible for the US Pre-Security Screening Program to carry water through airport security.
This would overturn a ban imposed in 2006 following a failed terror plot in the UK. At that time, someone planned to smuggle the liquid chemical mixture onto the plane hidden in soda and sports drink bottles.
The BBC asked the US Transportation Security Administration for confirmation of the rumored policy change, but received no response.
Price said that the U.S. Transportation Security Administration is currently gradually replacing traditional X-ray machines with new security inspection equipment, and the new equipment has computed tomography (computed tomography) capabilities that "can detect liquid explosives more effectively."
These updates to security procedures follow the Transportation Security Administration's move last year to eliminate the requirement that travelers take off their shoes during security checks. This unpopular policy has been in place for two decades.
Reaction to the announcements was mixed on social media. Some older users who remember the era before the policies were implemented welcomed the return to normalcy, while younger users questioned whether the changes represented a decrease in safety.
"There's a nostalgia for the world before 9/11, a call to a normal world, and I can understand part of that," Price said.
"I can understand people wanting to go back to a state where they felt more comfortable, which was the world before 9/11."
But Price said the changes would not impact traveler safety as long as core security measures remained in place and standards continued to be high.
"I don't want to sacrifice reasonable and effective safety measures just to miss the feeling before 9/11," he said.
"I don't think we should make these types of decisions just to 'feel better.' These types of decisions can be made as long as safety measures are not compromised, and that's the standard I always seek when faced with situations like this."
