Going through airport security, which has never been
pleasant, is becoming a hellish experience as wait times increase around the
country, in some cities to several hours.
Security lines have gotten longer in part because more
Americans are flying and government spending on security has not kept up with
that growth. Passenger traffic was up nearly 5 percent, to 807 million trips,
in the 12 months that ended in January, according to the Department of Transportation. But the number of authorized employees in the
Transportation Security Administration’s airport security operation is down nearly 3 percent from the 2015
fiscal year.
In fact, the number of screeners has fallen every year
since 2013. And even though the needs are growing, the Obama administration has
asked Congress for a modest addition of only 323 positions, or less than a 1
percent increase in staffing, for the 2017 fiscal year.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security, of
which the T.S.A. is a part, appeared to act with more urgency. It said that the government
would hire more airport screeners and increase the number of bomb-sniffing
dogs. Money for these measures will come from other parts of the T.S.A. budget,
but the department and Congress need to do more.
Congress authorized $4.15 billion for the T.S.A.’s
airport screening operation in 2016, up just $37 million from the year before.
That’s clearly inadequate, given the increase in passengers. In addition to
more money, the T.S.A. needs greater flexibility to increase spending when
demand for air travel surges. For example, Congress should allow the department
to tap into more of the money the government collects from a security tax levied on tickets
when traffic grows faster than projected. In the past, Congress has diverted some
of that revenue to the general fund.
The security agency can also reduce wait times by
making smart adjustments that don’t require congressional action. One step,
suggested by a trade association
representing airports, is to
give local T.S.A. managers the power to spend more money on overtime during
busy periods without consulting headquarters.
The agency also needs to get more passengers to sign
up for the PreCheckprogram, which allows those who have been preapproved
by the T.S.A. to go through security without removing their shoes and belts or
taking laptop computers out of bags. That reduces wait times for everybody by
cutting the number of people in the main security line.
The T.S.A. has set a goal of signing up 25 million
passengers to PreCheck in the next three years. So far, it has registeredonly
2.5 million, though officials say enrollment is picking up. The Department of
Homeland Security has signed up 6.5 million people in other trusted travelers
programs, like Global Entry; those people are also eligible for PreCheck. The
T.S.A. might be able to encourage more sign-ups if it reduced the $85
registration fee, which is good for five years.
The recent terrorist attack in Brussels showed that
airports remain a big target, and agencies like the T.S.A. have a difficult
job. It was heavily criticized last year after an investigation by the
inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security revealed that
airport security workers often failed to detect weapons, mock explosives and
other prohibited items. Travel experts say some of the steps the agency took in
response probably contributed to the increased wait times.
Clearly, safety can’t be compromised to reduce wait
times. But there is no doubt that the T.S.A. and Congress can do a lot more to
make screening more efficient and a better experience for travelers.
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