Transportation Security Administration – Dispatches From The Front

The 2016 U.S. Airport Summer From Hell tour has been postponed, though the band may reschedule for later this summer.

After weeks in which airlines and airports issued dire warnings that the Transportation Security Administration was likely to suffer nightmarish security-screening delays, the queues have returned to their traditional, non-newsworthy duration. The TSA even boasted on Tuesday about average wait times of less than 10 minutes over the July 4 holiday weekend, as well as PreCheck lanes half that duration.

“TSA’s success this weekend is a testament to the hard work of the men and women of the agency–both its leadership and, more importantly, those on the front lines at the airports,” Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement. He added that the agency is “not declaring victory” and plans to do more.

Tens of thousands of travelers standing in interminable security lines this holiday weekend will, at least momentarily, entertain fantasies of revenge against the Transportation Security Administration. Airports could actually do something about the hated agency, and a few are weighing a radical option: firing TSA screeners and hiring private replacements.

The frustration over queue times—which have topped two and three hours at airports in Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte and Denver—has prompted new attention by airport executives to the TSA’s little-known Screening Partnership Program, in which the federal agency solicits bids for a contractor to handle airport screening. The contractors must follow the same security protocols as federal officers, with similar wages and benefits.

Tag: Transportation Security Administration

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