"Little relief seen for airport lines"

Sunday, May 23, 2004

Little relief seen for airport lines
By Keith L. Alexander
The Washington (DC) Post


Remember when the Transportation Security Administration -- the
government agency in charge of the nation's airport security -- promised
last year to have travelers through security checkpoints within 10
minutes?

Not anymore. This month, at a congressional aviation hearing, TSA
officials not only backed away from that pledge but refused to provide
new guidance for travelers expected to pack the nation's airports this
summer in numbers not seen since before Sept. 11, 2001.

With the biggest crowds yet to come, airports in Los Angeles, Las Vegas,
and Atlanta are grappling with security lines that average more than an
hour -- and have been as long as five hours during peak periods.
Passengers at Washington's Dulles and Atlanta routinely wait in lines
for as long as 90 minutes, airline officials said.

``If Disney can do a good job at line management, and small retailers
can manage lines, you would think the TSA could take from those best
practices to get people through more quickly,'' said Doug Wills, a
spokesman for the Air Transport Association.

According to the Department of Transportation's Air Travelers Consumer
Report, airline passengers filed more than four times as many complaints
against security screeners in March than against the airlines
themselves.

The screener complaints centered on the handling of checked bags and
carry-ons and excessively long processing times at checkpoints.
Inappropriate screening of bags accounted for 519 of the 2,728
complaints, the most in any category. Discourteous treatment by
screeners received the second most complaints.

Rhatigan said the biggest cause for the delays is staffing. Because of
congressional budget cuts late last year, the number of screeners was
cut to 45,000 this year from 55,000. TSA has about 43,800 screeners and
is slowly building up to its maximum allotment as TSA officials conduct
background checks and train new hires before they are dispatched to
airports, she said.

On Monday, the TSA announced it was adding 800 screeners nationwide at
airports where travelers experienced long lines.

The TSA isn't the only federal agency preparing for the flood of summer
travelers. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration unveiled a new
Web site, www.FAA.gov/wireless, where travelers can find out whether
their flight is delayed or on time as well as send compliments or
complaints to the government about how the airlines are treating them.

The FAA's new service gives no guidance on how long passengers may have
to wait in security lines. That information should come from the TSA,
elected officials said. Blakey said the FAA has tried to work with the
TSA to get that information. But Stephen McHale, the TSA's deputy
administrator, said the agency could not provide it.

So how much time should an airline passenger factor in for airport
security? Minneapolis-based travel expert Terry Trippler said passengers
should arrive at least two hours early, especially if they're checking
bags and flying on the busiest days: Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and
Fridays.


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