FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Missing flight due to secondary screening...
Old Nov 20, 2004, 10:10 pm
  #9  
Decomposing Screener
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Programs: TSA Reanimation Program
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by TSAMGR
I apologize, I must have missed it.

I agree 50 minutes is way too long. Any wait time over 40 minutes has to have a notification made to TSA HQ. In my personal opinion 10 minutes should be the max but you do need to plan for the unexpected.
How many lanes do checkpoints usually have in other airports around the nation? The largest checkpoint at my airport has 6 lanes but we rarely run with all of them open. Even if we stretch the staff and pull the leads to open lane 6 the wait times easily push over 10 minutes due to sheer numbers. An average day at my checkpoint is about 6,000 passengers coming through and days with 7,500 or more are pretty common as well. During special events or holidays the numbers can easily go over 10,000. Selectees and regular secondary checks normally don't hold up then line. We usually have enough space to take care of them and still keep the passengers moving through.
In this kind of situation the only way I can see to decrease the wait time is to add more lanes and more screeners. Of course then when people come through the slow times and see more people milling around the old "what a waste of my tax dollars" thing will come up again. I guess we can't win.
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