International travelers, rejoice: The United States and the United Kingdom are finally rethinking one of their most annoying airport rituals.
For decades, anyone flying between the U.S. and the U.K. and catching a connecting flight elsewhere on the continents or beyond has faced the same frustrating drill: Go through customs, pick up your checked bag, haul it through a maze of hallways, and then drop it off at a recheck station (hopefully before the bag-check cutoff time—otherwise it and the passenger has to be rebooked on a later flight) before going through security a second time.
But change is in the air. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.K. Department for Transport (DfT) have partnered with American Airlines and Delta Air Lines on a new pilot program that would save travelers time at some of the busiest airports in the world.
Starting this month, travelers on select flights between London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) with American or between Heathrow and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) with Delta will be able to bypass some of those steps.
Called One-Stop Security (OSS), the new system prescreens passengers and their checked baggage at their departure airport, allowing them to go to their next gate as soon as they land without having to claim and recheck their bags (and in some instances, go through security again).
The U.K. is one country, like the U.S., that rescreens as a rule, to ensure connecting passengers meet its security protocols before boarding another flight (some other countries skip it to streamline the transit experience or because they trust the originating airport’s security protocols). Not rescreening passengers’ bags (and instead automatically transferring the luggage to the passengers’ connecting flights) means the U.K. and the U.S. reciprocally recognize each other’s screening system as equivalent. In 2021, Congress passed a bill authorizing TSA to develop a pilot program that could end the stateside recheck shuffle (which has long been a requirement as a matter of national security).
American and Delta now have dedicated customs areas for eligible flights; however, the two carriers will handle security screenings slightly differently.
Connecting passengers flying with American from London to Dallas will go through a small passport control area, and after their passport is cleared, they can go to their next gate—without dealing with baggage or going through a TSA screening.
Passengers connecting after their Delta flight from London to Atlanta, on the other hand, will be able to skip only collecting and rechecking their bags. They won’t be able to sidestep additional security screenings unless they have Global Entry, a trusted travel program, or the Mobile Passport Control app. Those without either will still need to go through a TSA checkpoint.
The OSS pilot began in February for travelers flying with American from Dallas-Fort Worth to Heathrow (and then connecting to another international destination outside Britain). Currently, it’s available on one American flight from Heathrow to DFW but is expected to expand to all five daily AA flights from Heathrow to DFW. The program will be available on all three daily Delta flights from Heathrow to Atlanta.
It’s worth mentioning, however, that this route isn’t exempt from the new U.K. electronic travel authorization (ETA) system. As of January 8, 2025, this system requires travelers flying into England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland to apply for permission to travel to the U.K. ahead of time. To obtain the U.K.’s ETA, travelers must fill out a questionnaire with basic personal information and pay a 10-pound fee (roughly US$13, based on current conversion rates).
For now, OSS is available only for flights between those three airports. However, other departure airports are expected to be added later this year, should the program prove successful. It would mean a more streamlined international arrivals process for millions of fliers annually.
American is a member of the oneworld Alliance, which also includes British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Japan Airlines, and Qantas, among others. This means passengers connecting from Dallas on a oneworld flight will avoid customs upon landing in London. The same is true for Delta fliers connecting from Atlanta with another member of the SkyTeam alliance, such as Air France, KLM, SAS, and Virgin Atlantic.
The OSS program operates similarly to the preclearance programs that exist at some international airports—including in the Bahamas, Canada, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates—allowing travelers’ bags to go straight to their final destination, no passenger handoff required.
This story was originally published in March 2025 and was updated on July 24, 2025, to include current information.
