TSA under fire for long airport security lines

Record ID: 102072

  • Title: TSA under fire for long airport security lines
  • Date: 25th May 2016
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MAY 25, 2016) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATOR PETER NEFFENGER BEFORE HEARING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATOR PETER NEFFENGER SAYING: "This year we project our checkpoints nationwide will screen some 740 million people. By comparison in 2013 TSA screened 643 million people. That's an increase in one of 100 million people in just four years while our full time workforce has reduced by more than 12 percent. That and our renewed focus on security are significant contributors to the situation we face today." HEARING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATOR PETER NEFFENGER SAYING: "As you recall we stopped a practice known as managed inclusion which was the practice of randomly assigning people out of the standard lanes, unvetted individuals just randomly assigned a pre-check lane. One of the discoveries out of our root cause analysis and working with the IG was introduced an acceptable risk into the system. In doing that I knew that that would dramatically increase the number of people back in the standard lanes and we weren't staffed to the level we needed to man all the lanes possible." CHAIRMAN HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE, CONGRESSMAN MICHAEL MCCAUL DURING HEARING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATOR PETER NEFFENGER SAYING: "I think it's important to also note that behavior detection is, is still an important element but it's how you use it effectively I think that, that matters. And so I can use those officers directly at things like document checking positions to service divest officers. Places where they can still monitor and look at behavior but at the same time directly contribute to the efficiency of the checkpoint." RANKING MEMBER OF THE CHAIRMAN HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE, CONGRESSMAN BENNIE THOMSPON OF MISSISSIPPI (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATOR PETER NEFFENGER SAYING: "With the huge increase in enrollments that we've seen in pre-check we have a lot of people who still walk into a standard line not recognizing that that's not going to be an automatic pre-check lane so you've got to scrub the standard lines to pull people out as many as 15 percent of the daily passenger we're finding are walking into a standard lane by mistake. " HEARING
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2016 18:21
  • Keywords: TSA Transportation Security Adminstration airport lines
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014JB4RQD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE CORRECTING VIDEO TO REMOVE ACCESS TO VIDEO WE NO LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO. WE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO VIDEO OF PEOPLE ON COTS
    U.S. Transportation Security Administration administrator Peter Neffenger testified to Congress on Wednesday (May 25) to defend the agency in the wake of criticism for long lines at the airport security checkpoints.
    Long security lines at U.S. airports this spring have frustrated travelers and caused thousands of passengers to miss flights. TSA has blamed the problem on a lack of security screeners and an increase in passenger volumes.
    "This year we project our checkpoints nationwide will screen some 740 million people. By comparison in 2013 TSA screened 643 million people. That's an increase in one of 100 million people in just four years while our full time workforce has reduced by more than 12 percent. That and our renewed focus on security are significant contributors to the situation we face today," Neffenger said.
    Ending the practice known as managed inclusion where randomly assigned passengers were taken out of security lines and moved to the pre-check lane due to security concerns also added to the increase in wait times.
    Another issue were passengers not entering the proper line.
    "With the huge increase in enrollments that we've seen in pre-check we have a lot of people who still walk into a standard line not recognizing that that's not going to be an automatic pre-check lane so you've got to scrub the standard lines to pull people out as many as 15 percent of the daily passenger we're finding are walking into a standard lane by mistake," Neffenger said.
    Earlier this month, TSA said it would add screeners at the country's busiest airports.
    In the memo, Neffenger said TSA is doing a better job of moving passengers through security at Chicago's O'Hare Airport after particularly long lines at the nation's second-busiest airport made national news several weeks ago.
    He also said TSA has established a National Incident Command Center at agency headquarters in Washington to track daily screening operations nationwide and shift resources in advance of higher predicted passenger volumes.
    About 231 million passengers will fly on U.S. airlines from June through August, up 4 percent from the same period last year, according to trade group Airlines for America.
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register