American Airlines Executive Blasts TSA for Having to Pick up Slack
Joe Cortez June 10, 2016
American Airlines’ chief executive says airlines’ solutions are not sustainable.
One legacy carrier executive is placing the blame squarely on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for long security lines, claiming their hiring policies have kept flyers waiting at major airports across the United States. In an interview with Reuters, American Airlines chief executive Doug Parker claimed the lack of TSA screeners negated the efforts taken by airlines to speed up checkpoint lines.
“I checked into Dallas-Fort Worth on the way out here, and we have – it appeared – at least as many American Airlines employees standing out in front of security helping move the lines as there are TSA agents,” Parker told Reuters. “That’s neither right nor sustainable.”
The executive, who is into his third year of tenure as chief executive of the Dallas-based airline, claims the legacy carriers have invested a combined total of $12 million into improving the security experience, but it may not be enough to help the problem. Rather, Parker places the problem on the TSA not having enough screeners to handle all flyers during peak travel hours.
The comments made by Parker contradict those made by TSA administrator Peter Neffenger in an interview with USA Today in May 2016. Neffenger claimed the influx of passengers carrying more luggage onto aircraft were part of the problem, alongside the need for tighter security in the wake of two major attacks in Europe.
While the executive has credited the agency with allocating funds to hire more than 700 new screeners, both Parker and Neffenger agree that utilizing new technology is part of the solution to keep travelers moving past checkpoints. In May, the TSA opened experimental automated security lanes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), to evaluate its effectiveness. In addition, travelers will begin receiving real-time information on wait times from the My TSA smartphone app and starting Mid-June.
With the ATL experiment underway, Parker said American is working with “major airports” to install automated security lanes. However, he would not comment to Reuters which airports were being considered.
[Photo: Adam Jeffery | CNBC]
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Sorry, as much as many would like to see checked bag fees gone, its not going to make a big impact. Take MDW as an example - despite the fact that WN has the vast majority of flights out of the airport, and no checked bag fees, it still had long TSA lines. Checked baggage fees have also been the norm for several years, yet the big TSA lines only became a problem a few months ago. The fault lies squarely with the inadequacy of the TSA, its high turnover and planning security based on having a trusted traveler program with 25 million members, while in actually having way less. Some say its full flights and the flight schedules of the airlines. I call BS...are we even back to the number of pre-9/11 travelers, and security wasn't an issue then, nor was it until recently? It's also amazing to see the number of TSA folks walking around the checkpoints seemingly doing nothing - its like the banks in the old days. Parker is right. However, he sholdln't be doing this alone. He should form an alliance of sorts with the other major airlines CEOs, and coordinate an industry-wide campaign to pressure the TSA to shape up, or outsource it to a private contractor who, will definitely be able to get the job done. It's amazing the problem the US has with these kinds of lines, at the TSA checkpoints, at immigration coming in, and others on a level that aren't seen in other parts of the world. One shouldn't have to wait in line longer then a lot of flights themselves are. I've never seen anything close in any other country, and I've been to many. Even in Israel, who probably has the best security in the world, has figured out to do it without having people have to wait in line forever. It's about time they figure it out in the US.
Bring back free checked bags and you'd see a big dent in carry on luggage. The road warriors and quick connect people will still carry on, but most mom and pop leisure travelers will just check their bags if it's free. And have a no bags line for people who checked their bags and not have anything to carry on to the plane. Further, if someone gets into Pre line and starts taking things out of bag or taking of shoes, automatically move them to the regular line. No warning. Just do it. If they aren't observant enough to read the multitude of signs instructing them what to do in the Pre line, they don't deserve to be in that line. Harsh? Maybe, but that'll get the lesson to stick real quick.
Maybe the solution is to let the airlines run security. Maybe that'd work better. Oh wait, we used to do that and it worked great! Security screeners were friendly, wait times were less than 5 minutes, and it didn't cost billions of taxpayer dollars.