LOS ANGELES — Flyers reacted with shrugs but largely agreed with a new policy announced by the Transportation Security Administration that airline passengers will be able to carry small knives and previously forbidden sports equipment on planes.

"It's common sense," said Pat O'Brien, who stood at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving from Durango, Colo. "You can make anything into a knife so I don't have a problem with it at all. You can sharpen a credit card to make a sharp implement."

Aviation security consultant John L. Sullivan agreed with O'Brien, saying a pen or toothbrush can be sharpened like the "shivs" inmates sometimes make in prison.