The TSA machines were back up and running Friday morning at Phoenix, Arizona’s Sky Harbor Airport after crashing Thursday night, but it may yet be days before affected travelers get their baggage back.
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In a letter to the TSA, the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey said that some 126 million passengers travel through John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia airports each year and that long lines are costly.
Cagle said the airport is asking questions about employing private security at check in to respond to passenger complaints about long waits. Now I hear you telling me the airlines have been in tough financial shape and would have undoubted passed that expense on in the form of increased fares. The U.S. Travel Association, an air travel group, says it’s a “national crisis”. Airlines and the TSA are already telling fliers to arrive at the airport two hours in advance. “Contemplate increased wait times as you travel”.
“Obviously waiting three hours for a two-hour flight is not acceptable and it’s not a good thing and it taxes everyone’s patience”, he said. The effort to replace TSA personnel who have left the agency in record numbers wasn’t. He also mentions a 2011 report from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which purported to find that the private screeners at San Francisco International processed 65% more passengers than their TSA counterparts at Los Angeles International, while getting the same pay and benefits.
Melendez said an internal TSA baggage-screening equipment power source created problems with the system, which were first spotted at about 6:45 a.m. Thursday.
“One of those options is to utilize a contractor to provide security as some other airports have done”, Ostreicher said in a statement.
“There were certainly some people near me that missed their flights for sure”, he said.
Albany was among the smaller airports nationwide sending its TSA canines to larger airports, where the delays this summer are expected to be much longer.
Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch summed up the dilemma: “When we criticize you today about having long lines and taking too long to screen people – next week if there is a breach we will haul you up here again and lambaste you for not being more thorough”.
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TSA spokesman Nico Melendez declined to comment on the matter. Precheck registered 2.36 million members by the end of March, but officials want to recruit millions more. And he said both the federal government and the airlines were teaming up to market TSA’s PreCheck program; he said the government was also encouraging businesses to reimburse their employees for the enrollment fee.
