"'So far, so good' for summer airport rush"

Monday, July 12, 2004

'So far, so good' for summer airport rush
By Barbara De Lollis
USA TODAY


Summer travelers are flocking to some airports in numbers not seen in
four years, but the airports, screeners and travelers themselves appear
to be coping.

"So far, so good," says Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who months ago urged
government security officials to prepare for the seasonal surge. 

Mica, who chairs the House aviation subcommittee, has in the past
criticized the Transportation Security Administration, the federal
airport screener, for not keeping up with growing passenger levels.
 
July and August are typically the busiest summer months for air travel.
Airports and the TSA crafted summer plans as passenger volumes hit
pre-Sept. 11 levels at several big airports. The nation's busiest
airport, Atlanta, for instance, expects to handle 85 million passengers,
6% more than in 2000. (Related tips: Strategies to keep hordes of
leisure fliers out of your way rush) 

Despite occasional security-line horror stories, early planning is
paying off, officials say. Mica says complaints to his office about
outrageously long waits in security lines have tapered off. 

TSA officials are cautiously upbeat, though spokesman Mark Hatfield
says, "It's way too early to declare victory." 

With its screening workforce capped at 45,000, the TSA is shifting staff
levels to deal with anticipated needs at individual airports. 

Airports such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Charlotte are trying
new tactics, like coaching infrequent fliers about checkpoint procedures
while they wait, Hatfield says. 

It's hard to generalize about security line wait times, says David
Plavin of Airports Council International, because of variables such as
airport size and layout, time of day, day of week and TSA staffing
practices. 

Even within the same airport, wait times can differ dramatically
depending where the traveler happens to be, he says.

TSA figures show that on July 5, one of the busier travel days of the
year, the 40 busiest U.S. airports had an average peak wait time of just
under 15 minutes. The longest maximum time recorded that day was 37
minutes at both Newark Liberty and Dallas/Fort Worth.

The TSA had an earlier goal of getting passengers through lines in 10
minutes. 

Some travelers have waited much longer.

On the Tuesday after Memorial Day, Atlanta passengers waited two hours
in a line that snaked outside the terminal for more than half a mile.

Police temporarily closed road lanes for the waiting passengers, says
airport spokesman Robert Kennedy. Wait times have been improving since
the airport tore out two newsstands to add four more security lanes to
its existing 18.

Two weeks ago, some members of the Los Angeles rock band Los Lobos
missed their flight out of Raleigh-Durham, N.C., because of long TSA
lines, says tour manager Armando Tavares. Half the checkpoints weren't
staffed, and pleas for them to be moved to the head of the line were
ignored, he says.

"You're just waiting at their mercy," Tavares says.

Plavin says that airline and airport employees usually do a good job of
moving up people on the verge of missing flights. But even when they do,
it's still stressful.

"In general, you don't miss the flight, but you're crazed about the
possibility of missing your flight," Plavin says.

Waits on July 5
   
Federal officials are recording wait times at the 40 busiest U.S.
airports. The 12 airports with highest maximum wait times recorded on
July 5, a heavy travel day. 

                      Minutes waited 
Airport           Average in   Highest
                  peak hours   on record 
Newark, N.J.         14.9         37  
Dallas/Fort Worth     9.3         37 
Miami                20.9         31 
Phoenix              17.0         30 
Philadelphia         13.0         30 
Seattle              19.3         29 
Sacramento           17.0         26 
Fort Lauderdale      14.0         26 
Honolulu             10.8         27 
Denver               16.3         25 
Los Angeles          10.5         25 
Minneapolis-St. Paul  7.8         25 
Source: Transportation Security Administration 


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