While it may not be possible, there are a few ways to avoid major hassles with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checks given the new increased level of security.

Most of my recommendations are commonsense, but sometimes commonsense flies out the window when you are dealing with a non-commonsense agency such as the TSA. We all know that if the left hand knew what the right hand was doing, they would have caught the Christmas Bomber long before he ever got on the Northwest flight bound for Detroit. Wasn’t that why the agency was created in the first place?

That being said, for you and me there are some simple precautions to take when venturing through the merky waters of the TSA.

1. Give yourself plenty of time to get through security.
2. Adhere to the existing rules such as only taking a quart bag with 3 ounces or less containers.
3. Keep your carryons to the limit of two, one normal sized and one personal item
4. Don’t wear a bulky coat or hat through security. Take it off or you will get wanded.
5. Stay calm. Chat with fellow passengers to take your mind off the wait and inefficiency. Ask them if they know what TSA means. Then say it means "Too many Standing Around".
6. Expect the worst. Long waits, few working agents, and stressed government employees (they are trying to unionize). The magic of this is that when things go better you feel better.

Review the Jan. 3 TSA press release for passengers at TSA.gov. Rest assured that they have “long-term sustainable security measures” now in place. (Are they talking about raising corn?)

For a good TSA rant, click on CrankyFlier.com.

For more security tips click here.

Would love to hear your most recent encounters good or bad with the TSA. Post a comment below or send me an e-mail through my question box on the right.

Happy contrails to you!