Chances are if you’re flying in the U.S. this summer, you’re going to encounter long lines at the airport.
A record number of passengers flying, and many TSA agents walking off the job every week, could lead to waits of up to three hours to get through security at some U.S. airports.
“I find it takes longer to get through the actual airport than the flight you want to go to,” passenger Mark Rosen said.
In the wake of withering criticism from Congress, the Homeland Security secretary and head of the TSA said a plan is in place to make things better.
“They don’t know how to recruit, they don’t know who to train, they certainly cannot maintain and they certainly can’t manage,” Representative John Mica of Florida said.
Homeland Security and the TSA are increasing overtime hours, using more bomb sniffing dogs, adding more than 700 new TSA agents in June, and urging people to sign up for the government’s Trusted-Traveler program, TSA Pre-Check.
“Three hours is not ideal, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said. “We want to reduce that as much as possible without compromising the safety of the American public.”
Administrators at several airports have recently expressed their unhappiness with TSA wait times, encouraging passengers to use the hashtag #IHateTheWait on social media and threatening to replace government screeners with a private work force.
“What you need to do this summer is treat every day like it’s a holiday,” said Mark Howell of the Newark Airport TSA. “It’s going to be busy.”
It’s a battle of security versus convenience, with passengers’ patience running short as lines grow longer.
The nation’s busiest airport, Atlanta, will start a new experimental program this month to try to make security lines move quicker. It includes luggage bins that move automatically, and kicking bags that need extra screening into a separate line so security screenings don’t come to a halt every time a bag needs to be rechecked.