MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)-A new aviation bill is likely to pass congress and could improve your travel experience. The goal is to boost airport security and reduce screening lines. Airlines would also have to refund passengers for lost luggage.
Most people we talked to said traveling into the Myrtle Beach airport is already frustrating because it’s rare to get a direct flight. One woman spent her whole day getting here, just to find her luggage didn’t make it.
Noise, long lines, checkpoints, and delays. Those are all things you might expect when you travel. Once you land though, you don’t expect to have any more problems.
“I thought about actually putting some stuff in my carry-on bag to just have some clothes for a couple days if it gets lost and sure enough it did.”
Kim Walton traveled from the Dallas Fort Worth airport. She said she usually just carries her bags on but because of her health right now, she couldn’t do that.
“We decided just to check it because I can’t lift much right now because I have cancer.”
After a long day of travel, she learned her bag didn’t make it to Myrtle Beach.
“I already have anxiety with what I’ve got going on physically and so this just adds, accelerates that and thank goodness I brought all my medication with me in my carry-on bag because I told my husband this could happen and sure enough, to us, it did.”
The new bill would require airlines to refund checked bag fees for any luggage that is lost or delayed for more than 12 hours. Walton said that’s how it should be anyway.
“They should refund you. Isn’t it their responsibility when I hand them my bag and pay the money to them to give me the bag back?”
The bill also would require TSA pre-check screening lanes to be open during busy times. Walton said she’s TSA pre-check but that perk rarely pays off.
“I was TSA approved in the first place today but I wasn’t able to get, there was no one standing at the gate so I had to walk down 30 gates to go do that today.”
If the bill is passed, people should be able to move through the airport quicker. Walton said that would be great because her travel experience was less than ideal.
“It’s frustrating and then when you get in line to go get on the plane and your group number one, you’re actually like the fifth group coming on.”
Close to a million people will fly into the Myrtle Beach airport this year. Brad Dean with the chamber told News13 that any improvements made to the airport would boost the tourism industry.
