Checkpoint reservation systems, and policies that allow families with small children and passengers in danger of missing their flights move to move to the front of the line, could help ease tensions on airport security lines, said Richard Larson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who’s sometimes known as “Dr. Queue”.
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On Wednesday, Durbin announced that he had received assurance that TSA would add 58 new security officers and four additional bomb-sniffing dogs at Chicago O’Hare, where long lines have been common.
He asked passengers to remain patient while the department works to cut delays as it brings online more TSA agents.
While the House has yet to approve sending requested funds to the TSA so it can pay its staffers overtime and fix the long lines, Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson called this week for airlines to wave bag fees in order to expedite the lines.
It was under the Obama administration that TSA employees unionized, and the union representing most TSA employees staged protests at major airports over the previous year as the contract was being renegotiated. “That’s why I am pleased that the TSA has agreed to deploy over 200 new agents to New York City-area airports to unclog the lines and improve security-something that benefits travelers all across the United States”.
Still, many believe that lines, which are often being reported at an hour or longer, will grow even more cumbersome with the onset of the summer travel season.
A few days before American Airlines broke out the cots at O’Hare, a frustrated traveler recorded a video of his journey from the front of a TSA line at Midway to the back of the line. “We have to make TSA and PreCheck much more approachable”, Durbin said.
From March 15 to April 15, there were 253 instances of wait-times exceeding 20 minutes at TSA screening points at JKF, Bosco noted. The practice was suspended past year after government auditors found lapses in security.
While TSA funding has decreased, the number of passengers screened has gone up, with almost 41 million more people going through checkpoints in 2015 compared to the previous year, according to Markey’s office. The TSA suggests passengers arrive at least two hours before domestic flights but some in the airline industry are now saying that might not be enough. “And once behind, it takes a long time to catch up”, Neffenger said.
Those workers “are generally reminding them [travelers] to put their items in the bins so that they are not likely to trigger an alarm when they go through the body scanning equipment”, she said.
There has been an increase in travelers at Sea-Tac each of the last five years, and officials expect more than 42 million passengers this year.
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The program is available to USA citizens and legal permanent residents.
