Anticipating heavier summer travel, the Transportation Security Administration will open its checkpoints at Albany International Airport at 3:15 a.m.
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This, however, is not a solution to waits that have caused more than 70,000 of American’s customers to miss flights this year, CEO Doug Parker said Wednesday in NY.
The agency said it’s reducing lines by adding more lanes and increasing staffing, especially at 7 of the nation’s busiest airports. Recently, the agency has relied on airlines to handle some of its non-screening work.
The remarks underscore airlines’ concern that fewer people will book flights if lengthy airport waits continue. The TSA conducts screening of all passengers, plus they also have intelligence and compliance operations and screen all checked baggage below the terminal floor, called a Federal Inspection Station. “That’s neither right nor sustainable”.
Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) acknowledged that the cap has caused TSA to instead focus on hiring part-time screeners, something union groups have said contributes to high attrition rates and low morale.
In response to the OIG report, the senators said they want “information on progress made by TSA in completing all 9/11 requirements, the date by which TSA will issue proposed regulations and final rules on these matters, and other actions taken by TSA to improve passenger rail and transit security”. In TSA Precheck lines for travelers who have received priority security vetting, 93 percent of passengers waited less than 5 minutes, he said. But only about 10 million travelers have enrolled, and screening lapses prompted the TSA to reduce its practice of pulling regular fliers into those fast lanes.
This year, the TSA projects it will screen 15 percent more people than in 2013, with 12 percent fewer agents.
“This bill will ensure that TSA position screeners are where they are needed most, which, I think, is absolutely critical”, Dold said.
In the new lanes, customers “come through the lane not just one at a time, one after each other, but five at a time”.
The House of Representatives has passed legislation that aims to cut down on wait times at TSA security checkpoints at airports around the country. He declined to specify which ones.
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American, the world’s largest airline, is working with major airports to roll out the automated lanes, Parker said.
