In a statement, the Transportation Security Administration said the change will help align the list of prohibited items on U.S. flights with those of international carriers and cut the time passengers spend going through security screening. Close 
 
 The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will let people carry small pocketknives onto passenger planes for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, along with golf clubs, hockey sticks and plastic Wiffle Ball-style bats. The policy change, which will take effect April 25, was immediately criticized by flight attendants, who say the move will create an unnecessary risk and further crowd the already limited space in the overhead bins. The change will remove from the TSA list of prohibited items small knives -- with blades less than 2.36 inches or 6 centimeters long -- as well as sporting equipment, including golf clubs, billiard cues, ski poles and hockey and lacrosse sticks. "While we agree that a passenger wielding a small knife or swinging a golf club or hockey stick poses less of a threat to the pilot locked in the cockpit, these are real threats to passengers and flight attendants in the passenger cabin," said Stacy K. Martin, president of Southwest Airlines’ flight attendants union, TWU Local 556. “That may detract us from that item that could lead to a catastrophic failure on an aircraft.” 
 
 The greatest threat to U.S. travelers is currently small, non-metallic bombs, not knives or sporting equipment, Pistole said.
– The TSA is loosening up a bit on what passengers can carry with them onto planes. Starting April 25, it will once again be OK to bring small pocketknives (with blades no more than 2.36 inches long and a half-inch wide), along with some kinds of sports equipment—including golf clubs, hockey and lacrosse sticks, pool cues, and plastic wiffle bats, reports Bloomberg. The federal agency says those are among the items commonly confiscated that are no longer perceived to be a security threat. It wants to focus instead on items that can cause "catastrophic damage." The rationale isn't sitting well with flight attendants, reports the Los Angeles Times. "While we agree that a passenger wielding a small knife or swinging a golf club or hockey stick poses less of a threat to the pilot locked in the cockpit, these are real threats to passengers and flight attendants in the passenger cabin," says one union leader. The only thing this change does is make things easier for TSA screeners, she adds.