WAITING AND HOPING TSA sends more screeners to Chicago to cut wait times

Posted on 05/18/2016 | About Chicago, Illinois

The Transportation Security Administration is immediately sending 58 new security officers and four more bomb-sniffing dog teams to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to address long delays at security checkpoints. Meanwhile passengers are being urged to arrive three hours prior to their flight depature time.

US Senator Dick Durbin's office said Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson assured the Illinois Democrat on Tuesday that resources are being directed to O'Hare, an important air traffic hub. Lengthening security wait times have been a problem at major US airports as passenger numbers increase ahead of the summer travel season. Meanwhile adding to the problem is the fact that the TSA and Congress have cut the number of screeners in the past three years.

In 2013, the TSA had more than 47,000 full-time workers serving 643 million travellers. This year, the agency reported having around 42,500 workers handling an estimated 740 million fliers. Last week, the TSA announced a plan to help reduce checkpoint wait times, which includes the hiring of 768 officers and more overtime and part-time hours. No firm date has been set for when the additional screeners will start at O’Hare, but the canines will be on patrol this week.

Illinois' other senator, Republican Mark Kirk, demanded the TSA administrator resign if delays at O'Hare and Midway aren't resolved by Memorial Day (May 30). A typically political solution that does nothing to resolve the current crisis but gets a couple of lines of ink. O'Hare's arrival time recommendation to travellers comes on the heels of a messy travel weekend at the airport. On Sunday, the wait time at one security check point exceeded two hours, according to American Airlines (AAL) spokesperson Leslie Scott.

The congestion caused 450 of the airline's passengers to miss their flights on Sunday. Some fliers who were booked on the last flight of the day had to spend the night in the airport. Durbin is also pressing TSA to speed enrolment in the PreCheck expedited screening programme.