The senators claim the baggage fees are contributing to the problem, and that cutting them will help alleviate some of the long lines.
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U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to executives at 12 major U.S. airlines urging the companies to stop charging bag fees during the summer, speeding inspections and unsnarling lines.
She added that the wait times seem to be longest at the major airports, including those in Chicago, Dallas and NY.
A pair of United States senators say airlines in the country should shelve the collection of excess baggage fees to improve throughput at national airports this summer. “Without charges for checking their bags, passengers will be far less likely to carry them on, which snarls screening checkpoints and slows the inspection process”.
Jean Medina of Airlines for America said it would be better if the Transportation Security Administration did a better job of staffing the busiest airports and encouraged more travelers to sign up for PreCheck, a program that lets known travelers zip through security faster without removing shoes, belts, jackets and laptops. Some airports use private contractors instead of TSA for screening.
“Common sense and historical trends tell us air travel will increase during the summer months and when the economy improves, and TSA has simply failed to plan responsibly”, Carter said in a statement.
Desjadon said a lot of other passengers were more frustrated than he was. When everything is working properly only about 10 percent of all checked bags are hand-searched by TSA officers.
Checked bag fees have been a thing since American Airlines first introduced the practice in 2008. However, years later the agency has been racked by allegations of mismanagement and travelers routinely complain about poorly-trained screeners doing intrusive searches and about lines so long the carriers warned passengers to arrive up to three hours before takeoff.
Long security lines have led to missed flights, creating problems for fliers and airlines. The TSA temporarily tried to fix the problem by pulling certain people over to the express lanes, but the fear of letting a risky passenger get through stopped that practice unless there were bomb sniffing dogs present.
Radio and TV personality Will Burge tweeted a video on Friday showing a TSA agent inspecting his friend’s bag in the security line.
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The TSA has said that an increase in security officers won’t necessarily mean quicker security checkpoints because many airport checkpoints are already operating at full capacity, CNN Money reports.
