Airports Contribute to Easing of Checkpoint Wait Times in Collaboration with TSA and Airlines

September 8, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2016

 

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson and TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger held a press conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to announce the success TSA has had in reducing security wait times at US airports. Airports were an integral part of TSA’s success by providing the following support:

  • Airports collaborated with TSA and airlines to successfully minimize security wait times.
  • Airports contributed significantly – on a voluntary and temporary basis – by providing staff to support non-screening functions. This allowed TSA to focus on its core mission of screening passengers and baggage.
  • Airports continue to participate with TSA’s Incident Command Center, which has allowed TSA to more readily identify potential issues in advance, so they can be addressed prior to becoming larger problems that negatively impact travelers.
  • In May, ACI-NA offered industry recommendations to TSA to improve efficiency at airport security checkpoints. The status of those recommendations can be found here.

While airports have been good partners in working with TSA to reduce and prevent long wait times, Congress needs to take action to provide TSA with the necessary resources to efficiently and effectively screen passengers and baggage.

  • Even with Congressional approval for TSA to reprogram funds to provide 768 new Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), convert 2,784 TSOs from part-time to full-time and authorize additional overtime, TSA is still understaffed by approximately 4,000 TSOs.
  • In the long term, Congress should provide TSA the funding for the number of TSOs necessary to efficiently and effectively screen passengers and baggage.
  • There is a ready source of funding – the 9/11 Passenger Security Fee – but Congress needs to stop diverting roughly one-third of the Fee collection for non-aviation security functions, such as debt reduction.

ACI-NA will continue to provide industry support to ensure minimal security wait times at US airports in the future.

 

About ACI-NA

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) represents local, regional, and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Approximately 380 aviation-related businesses are also members of ACI-NA, providing goods and services to airports. Collectively, U.S. airports support more than 11.5 million jobs and account for $1.4 trillion in economic activity – or more than seven percent of the total U.S. GDP. Canadian airports support 405,000 jobs and contribute C$35 billion to Canada’s GDP. Learn more at www.airportscouncil.org.