“We have never seen TSA wait times that affect airlines and passengers throughout the United States like we’ve seen in recent months”, Philipovitch said.
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Mike Saresky flew to Chicago from Philadelphia, where he said his wait was just 12 minutes.
Cox also said that, once they are hired, TSA officers “receive second-class treatment from their employer, the federal government”, which grants the agency’s workers less-liberal leave policies than other civil servants. American Airlines said 4,000 passengers have missed flights from that airport since February.
The big arrivals board at Pearson airport in Toronto indicated flights coming out of notoriously busy hubs like LaGuardia and JFK in NY, O’Hare in Chicago and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta were all running more or less on time Friday morning.
“We are concerned that long TSA lines this summer will impact the overall guest experience in the USA”, the airline said in the statement to BNN.
As it turns out, she may not have needed the extra time.
The Redmond TSA office interviewed applicants a few weeks ago, Bass said, and is aiming to add another six to eight part-time security officers.
A Transportation Security Administration officer watches as passengers put their luggage through an X-ray machine at a TSA checkpoint at Miami International Airport, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Miami.
“You’re essentially regulating yourself”, Fredrick Piccolo, president and chief executive of Sarasota-Bradenton International, said of TSA-staffed checkpoints. Democratic representative Bennie Thompson of MS warned against returning to what he called the pre-September 11 privatization model, whose failure to screen hijackers led to the creation of the TSA in the first place.
This year’s Memorial Day travel is expected to be the second highest on record, and the most since 2005.
In the absence of official TSA wait times, passengers can crowd-source information by posting on Twitter or Instagram using TSA’s social media tools, which they can access easily at www.iHateTheWait.com.
Harris said low gas prices and optimism in the economy are also spurring more people to hit the roads this holiday.
One of the problems causing the long lines is that the TSA is short-staffed.
OIA employees are urging passengers to come to the airport at least 2 hours before their flight.
This included nine new TSA canine teams, more than 250 new TSA screeners, shifting 150 TSA staff to full-time and tripling the amount of overtime authorized for TSA staff in Chicago, the city’s aviation department said in a news release.
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Allin said she supports pending legislation that would require each airport to set up a local committee of airport, airline and TSA representatives to better coordinate checkpoint staffing, and to allow staff not certified as screeners to perform non-screening work during peak periods. Avoid carrying on a bag if you can help it. Keep your laptop and zip-top bag of liquids out so you can quickly drop them into a bin.
