While holiday travelers enjoy their time off this Memorial Day weekend, crowding highways and airports across the country, aviation security will be put to the test.
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Plans for shortening TSA security lines include hiring 768 TSA officers by June and adding more dog sniffing teams at the major United States airports. As fuel prices plummet and airlines drop their airfare, more Americans will take to the skies for a bit of city hopping, and that will inevitably lead to longer lines – despite TSA’s moves to catch up with the demand. Another 58 TSA officers are expected to come to Chicago airports in the coming month.
“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.
At the same time, leaders at some airports and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration are saying some of the 345 incidents AP found shouldn’t count as security breaches, even when intruders got deep into secure areas. Hayward resident Frank Ceniceros Jr. arrived to the airport with his father, Frank Sr., three hours early, he said.
For its part, the TSA has asked airlines to stop charging for checked baggage, Ellis said, as the agency believes an increase in carry-on bags passengers are bringing onboard is adding to the wait times.
“We are going to keep passengers moving this weekend”, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said. Travelers waited in a security checkpoint line Thursday at Honolulu Airport. Twitter has been the most popular social media platform for fliers to share their experiences with more than 6,400 tweets posted so far. Congress stopped funds that the TSA could have used to boost hiring, causing the line problem to begin at about spring break time, he said.
The Transportation Security Administration is still advising people to arrive at the airport well before their flights – two hours for domestic travel, and three hours for worldwide, said agency spokesman Michael McCarthy.
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During peak hours at the airports-typically mornings, the Tribune reports-the average wait times were 42 minutes at O’Hare and 44 minutes at Midway, down from 105 and 65 minutes, respectively.
