The threat to go private is more serious than it may sound, and it’s one of several solutions airports are considering as summer travel heats up and security lines get longer.
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Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for American Airlines, said in an interview that travelers waited up to an hour and 45 minutes at checkpoints at Chicago O’Hare airport on Thursday. Johnson said the agency is expediting the hiring process to bring in additional officers by June 15. Whatever the plan, Johnson said, TSA won’t neglect its duty to stop terrorists.
But he also said that the passengers can play an important role in reducing delays.
Harmon said TSA is also saving overtime money to boost manpower during the busy summer travel season. Even those enrolled in PreCheck have no way of knowing if those express lanes will be open when they arrive at the airport. As if he had to remind us.
The TSA now recommends arriving two hours early for domestic flights.
Passengers pass through TSA screening at Albany International Airport Friday Nov. 21, 2014, in Colonie, NY.
“We want to keep people moving, but we want to keep passengers safe”, he said. But he added, “We’re not going to compromise aviation security because of this”.
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Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson met with press on Friday to offer reassurances and urge travelers to enroll in TSA PreCheck, as the agency’s lines have stemmed partly from under-enrollment in the effort-saving program. Nearly 120 TSA officers resign each week – 35 percent quit within their first year working for the agency – and that kind of turnover means longer security lines for passengers.
On Thursday in Arizona, a TSA software glitch caused more than 3,000 checked bags to be left behind at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Private screeners still have to follow TSA security procedures.
Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta sent a similar letter in February. He took over as TSA administrator last July, not long after an inspector general’s report found that undercover operatives had passed checkpoints with weapons and phony bombs more than 95 percent of the time. Neffenger said the turnover rate is about 23 percent.
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Mica, chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, took notes while Johnson was speaking. Three major airports in NY were thinking of firing the TSA and hiring private security screeners if the problem is not solved as soon as possible. Whine as they might about long security lines, they have a dirty little secret. “I think people should check their bags more often so it would go a lot faster”. “This is a flawed system.This is a crisis”.
