Las Vegan Samantha Fairchild reads "Old Yeller" while waiting in the ATA Airlines line at McCarran International Airport on Friday afternoon. She was traveling with her family to Hawaii and arrived at the airport around noon for a 4:50 p.m. flight. Photo by Jeff Scheid.

American travelers, for the most part, are quick learners.

It took only a day for them to start packing liquids and gels in their checked baggage, reducing wait times in security lines at McCarran International Airport to about 15 minutes Friday, compared with two hours the previous day.

But Friday is not a heavy departure day at McCarran, with most passengers arriving from other destinations. So Sunday will be another test for the traveling public, when more passengers will be tourists heading home, Clark County Aviation Director Randall Walker said.

"I was at the checkpoints today, and we're still taking things away from people," he said. "Customers are doing pretty good. They understand what's going on, and we received some e-mails from them yesterday thanking us."

Walker said he's been in constant communication with the Transportation Security Administration. Security at McCarran is "a very fluid situation, hour to hour," he said.

Plans are in place through Sunday, when airport and TSA officials will meet to figure out their next steps, Walker said.

Metropolitan Police Department Undersheriff Doug Gillespie said officers at McCarran worked overtime as a result of the new security measures.

Gillespie said there was no evidence indicating a connection between Las Vegas or McCarran and Thursday's foiled terrorist plot to carry explosive liquids onto planes flying from Britain to the United States.

Among the security measures implemented Thursday: Passengers were banned from bringing liquids or gels, such as bottled water, shampoo, lotions, creams, toothpaste, and hair gel, through security checkpoints or onto the plane. Baby formula, medications and insulin were allowed under specific conditions.

Jofa Laroe of Amarillo, Texas, said she flies three to four times a week to car auctions around the country and was at McCarran at least three hours before her 2:10 p.m. flight Friday. She'd heard about the security nightmare, she said, and went early to scout the situation for the rest of her group.

"Some of my friends didn't even try to fly yesterday," she said. "They drove here from Phoenix. My partner flew out of Dallas and said he had no problem at Love (Field)."

Aris Sanchez of Massachusetts arrived in Las Vegas on Friday from Providence, R.I., and said security lines extended outside the airport there to the sidewalk. He was given some preference because of his flight time, shortening his wait to about an hour, he said.

"They made me throw away $100 (of belongings)," Sanchez said. "My cologne, shaving cream. That's fine. From now on, I won't carry it on. We have to follow the law."

Expensive or sentimental items that would be confiscated at security checkpoints can be mailed home through Checkpoint Mailers Inc., which has drop boxes near the security lines with resealable plastic bags and address forms. It costs $9 to mail items domestically, $14 for lighters, and $14 for international delivery, $32 for lighters.

Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid, whose district includes McCarran, said it was obvious that passengers were better prepared Friday for the increased security measures.

"We're still impacted by the security measures, but people should understand there's no threat here at McCarran, and people should continue to travel," Reid said.

In a statement from the Travel Industry Association, President and Chief Executive Roger Dow said, "The travel public understands that heightened screening requirements will allow them to travel with the confidence that our system is secure, and we urge travelers to exercise patience as we adapt to the new security measures."

There were 44.3 million passengers at McCarran last year, making it the fifth-busiest U.S. airport. The count is up 3.5 percent through the first half of this year.