An estimated 231 million travelers will take flight this summer on U.S. airlines alone – up 4 percent from last summer’s high of 222 million passengers. International flights will add about 30 million additional travelers. While exciting times may begin once passengers step off the planes, getting inside the airplanes to take off will require patience.
This spring, travelers waited an average of 60-90 minutes in airport security lines. The wait time in many locations is longer now. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has lost 10 percent of its front line staff since 2013 – and TSA officials claim that hiring has been curtailed because of current budget appropriations.
Photo of a TSA screening area at Denver International Airport by danjo paluska licensed under CC BY 2.0.
During the Memorial Day weekend, the TSA beefed up efforts to prevent long waits as well as enhance security. Screeners were moved from smaller to busier airports and bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to supplement security efforts.
A national command center has been created and is located in Washington, D.C. From there, TSA employees monitor staffing, security and open lanes at more than 20 of the nation’s major airports, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, Kennedy (N.Y.), Newark, Miami and Chicago O’Hare. The command center can move and deploy TSA employees when needed, and personnel at the command center can authorize overtime hours when appropriate.
Unfortunately, this is still not providing enough relief. In May, airport executives convened at the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) annual conference for the industry’s largest conference. There, TSA administrators considered numerous diversified options.
TSA leaders plan to advocate and lobby Congress for more funding for staff, but the reality is that technology may be needed more. The current screening model is one that was developed more than a decade ago, and newer technology is available now.
The TSA has implemented an innovation task force, which will study and test ways to integrate new systems and technologies at U.S. airports. It is highly probable that airports will become prime targets for public-private partnerships (P3s/PPPs) because of the need for additional capital. Just before the Memorial Day weekend, the Atlanta airport unveiled new automated screening lanes and technology that was purchased with private-sector funding. That is a trend that will likely become common.
Airports in Europe and Canada have better screening systems. Most use multiple conveyor lanes, bins and X-ray machines in areas where bottlenecks occur quickly. Leading-edge tracking technology is used and monitoring via photo and video surveillance is better in other countries. Many use face recognition cameras to scan large areas where passengers gather. Security is tight but passengers move through quickly to board airlines.
Shockingly, no airport in the U.S. makes the list of the top 25 airports in the world.
New technologies can alleviate some of the wait times in the U.S. and can obviously enhance security, but the TSA says more staff is also needed to implement the processes and perform the required physical checks. Many in Congress, however, argue that the TSA, with more than $7.5 billion in its budget, is already adequately funded and is just not efficient.
Traveling this summer? Pack an extra amount of patience.
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