American Airlines Eliminates Baggage Re-check on Some International Connections

A new partnership between American Airlines and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will allow some travelers to skip baggage re-check when connecting on international flights.

The program, called International Remote Baggage Screening (IRBS), enables passengers arriving in the U.S. from certain international airports to go through CBP passport control and head directly to TSA security—without needing to claim and re-check their bags for connecting flights. American

The goal is to reduce connection times and ease one of the major pain points for international travelers.

The program launched this week and is currently limited to American’s flights from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). However, both American and CBP say the program will expand to additional cities in the future.

IRBS is a “significant step forward” in modernizing the travel process, said Diane J. Sabatino, acting executive assistant commissioner of the Office of Field Operations at CBP, in a statement.

American also launched a new program at London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) in February that allowed travelers connecting to international destinations through London Heathrow Airport (LHR) from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to skip a second round of security screening. That program, called One Stop Security (OSS), is aimed at the same goal as IRBS—making international travel less painful for American flyers.