Plan more time for airport security this spring and summer
Summer travel season is right around the corner, and that will mean one thing at airports around the U.S.: longer lines.
The Transportation Security Administration is advising travelers to check in two hours ahead of their flight time to compensate for the slowdown at security.
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The TSA cut its airport screening staff by 10% over the last three years, anticipating that the PreCheck program — in which frequent fliers enroll to go through a faster line — would speed up the process.
When not enough fliers enrolled, the agency tried to make up for that shortfall by randomly placing passengers into the express lanes. But it recently scaled back that effort for fear dangerous passengers were being let through. That's when the lines started growing, up to 90 minutes at U.S. airports in some cases.
The TSA is shifting some resources to tackle lines at the nation's biggest airports, but says there is no easy solution to the problem with a record number of fliers expected this summer.
The TSA says there is no easy solution to the problem with a record number of fliers expected this summer.
"We had unacceptable line waits at the majority of our hubs," said Robert Isom, chief operating officer of American Airlines. "Based on what the TSA is telling us, there is no relief in sight."
The PreCheck program launched in 2012. Passengers who enroll go through an interview process and pay $85-$100 every five years, in return for expedited screening: They can keep shoes, belts and light jackets on as they pass through a regular X-ray machine, and laptops and liquids can stay in their bags.
PreCheck lanes can screen 300 passengers an hour, twice that of standard lanes.
While the TSA estimated 25 million people would enroll, four years later the actual number is 9.3 million.
And while the TSA cut front-line screeners from 47,127 to 42,525 in the past three years, the number of fliers grew from 643 million to more than 700 million each year.
About 250,000 to 300,000 people join PreCheck every month, but it's not nearly fast enough to keep up with the number of fliers passing through airports each day.
"It hasn't been a failure; it just isn't moving as quickly as it needs to move," said Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president for legislative and regulatory policy at Airlines for America, an airline trade group.
Security is also top of mind for airport officials and travelers, with the recent Brussels attacks highlighting the vulnerability of transit terminals. Heightened screenings combined with record numbers of travelers are likely to further contribute to wait times.
According to The Associated Press, during the week of spring break in mid-March, 6,800 American Airlines passengers missed their flights because of long checkpoint lines, foreshadowing the headaches airlines fear during the peak summer travel months.
"The TSA is more or less suggesting that we need to live with it," Isom said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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