TSA Blames Poor Preparation for Holiday Travel Delays in Chicago, Disputes Reported Wait Times
Mary Minor Davis December 04, 2014
The TSA admits that poor planning led to long delays in the security lines at a Chicago airport over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Holiday travelers returning home on Sunday probably weren’t feeling thankful for the security checkpoints at Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW), where flyers endured wait times of 50 minutes or more.
USA Today reports the TSA admitted it made scheduling errors in preparing for what is historically one of the busiest travel days of the year. Although ticket counters opened at 3:30 a.m. for flights starting at 5:25 a.m., the TSA did not open security lanes until 4 a.m.
“Unfortunately, TSA did not open the checkpoint earlier than normal in anticipation of the increased volume, which resulted in a surge of passengers as the checkpoint opened,” the agency said in a prepared statement, as reported by TheStreet.
The TSA went on to admit that, while “significant overtime” staffing was scheduled for later in the day, it was short staffed for the first two hours on Sunday morning.
Earlier reports alleged that the lines stretched for more than a mile. MDW flyer and KOMO 4 journalist Denise Whitaker took to Twitter to claim she mapped the line out at 1.2 miles long. However, TSA spokesman David Castelveter told TheStreet that those reports were exaggerated and that wait times did not exceed 50 minutes. Castelveter added that the agency is reviewing what occurred in order “to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.”
[Photo: Denise Whitaker’s Twitter]
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Hold the government accountable..? How great is life when the only outrage against your country's government is when they make you wait in line at the airport to fly. TSA has been making people wait or over a decade now... and we suddenly think they'll get their act together?
I'm no TSA apologist. Clearly there was a lack of communication. But it seems like the problem was created by the gap between the airline counters opening at 0330 and TSA at 0400. Even if TSA had adequately calculated passenger volume and staffed accordingly, opening a half hour late would easily create a backlog that could take hours to clear up. Maybe the fault is not that TSA didn't calculate passenger volume, but rather didn't take note of the unusual early opening time by the airlines.
Our government needs to be held accountable for its performance in matters such as this. While a statement of admission is a nice start, there is no apology and no explanation for how an agency could've missed such an important detail. If I can't trust them to get these basic things right, how do I entrust them with anything else?
I did read the article and it is very clear that the airlines know who's flying at what time(s) on any given day. Since the TSA is all knowing, there is simply no excuse for the TSA dropping the ball. Doesn't the TSA/DHS essentially have full access to airline reservations/passenger records? Of course they do!
I don't see how they fail to estimate the crowd level at any given time. Can't they get a count of travelers on flights scheduled to depart that morning and schedule accordingly?