Transportation Security Administration chief Peter Neffenger, second from right, responds to a question at O’Hare International Airport on the massive delays at airport security lines in Chicago and across the country Friday, May 20, 2016, in Chicago. The TSA had been randomly placing passengers into the faster PreCheck lanes but that stopped in the fall after government auditors found lapses in security. Across the country, 22 airports already do, including Portsmouth International Airport at Pease. “The airlines are looking at a record summer, so you know it’s going to be insane”.
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A pilot program testing the more efficient program led to a 40 percent reduction in the time spent preparing to deposit belongings.
Another idea being discussed is a reservation system for the security lines, much like Disney’s FastPass, which allows park visitors to reserve times for attractions and entertainment.
Jason Van Eaton, Southwest’s vice president of governmental affairs, said the company works with Love Field to provide scheduling data to the TSA to help guide staffing decisions.
“This is not a permanent fix”, said American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein. More flyers and fewer TSA officers drove wait times up to unbearable levels.
He says 100 part-time employees are being made full-time, and hundreds of new officers are being hired this summer in Chicago and at other busy hub airports all around the county that have had similar problems.
The average number of passengers screened during spring break was about 40,000, compared with a daily average of 34,000. TSA anticipates a 6 percent increase in traffic this summer.
The mayor said TSA officials should have seen the recent problems coming, given the agency significantly reduced staff over the past three years – largely because it expected high demand for its PreCheck expedited screening program – and increasing travel volumes due to lower fares offered by the airlines.
The money will be used in part to hire 768 additional screeners by June 15.
Last week, Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security, announced that the TSA would pay more overtime for screeners, speed up hiring and increase the use of bomb-sniffing dogs. This includes Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta and the New York Port Authority, which, earlier this year, sent a letter to TSA administrators stating that they could “no longer tolerate the continuing inadequacy of the TSA passenger services”.
But even this can cause delays.
You won’t have to remove your shoes or jacket, and you’ll be able to keep your laptop and shampoo in your bag.
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TSA maintains that lack of staffing is a primary reason for the suddenly longer lines.
