Post-eclipse screening at PDX & CHS

Old Aug 23, 2017, 8:32 am
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
Post-eclipse screening at PDX & CHS

Interesting to note that reports from PDX and CHS says that post-eclipse crowds were screened very quickly. Does that mean that standard screening was done away with to accommodate the crowds? If so, why?


and

petaluma1 is offline  
Old Aug 23, 2017, 9:54 am
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Programs: QF WP, AA EXP
Posts: 3,520
They probably brought out the dogs to sniff people which allowed everyone PRE-style screening.
SNA_Flyer is offline  
Old Aug 23, 2017, 10:01 am
  #3  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: where the chile is hot
Programs: AA,RR,NW,Delta ,UA,CO
Posts: 41,236
PDX says normal throughput is 250-400 but they managed 900.

My question is: if they could manage 900 on Monday, why isn't 'normal' much higher than 250-400?

Surely that wasn't all additional staffing and opening never-used lanes. Did they abandon quotas (number of people frisked, number of items confiscated, number of bags rifled) for one day?
petaluma1 likes this.
chollie is offline  
Old Aug 23, 2017, 10:01 am
  #4  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
Originally Posted by SNA_Flyer
They probably brought out the dogs to sniff people which allowed everyone PRE-style screening.
Someplace I asked the same thing but never got a response. I would think the airports themselves and TSA would be bragging if the dogs were used to speed things along. It is certainly most unlike TSA not to take advantage of an opportunity to do so.
petaluma1 is offline  
Old Aug 23, 2017, 5:24 pm
  #5  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Nat'l Exec Elite, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 16,247
30 minute wait is "very quickly"? That doesn't sound any different than normal screening, if the checkpoint is staffed for a typical throughput of up to 400 with little wait expected.
javabytes is offline  
Old Aug 23, 2017, 7:02 pm
  #6  
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Orange County, CA, USA
Programs: AA (Life Plat), Marriott (Life Titanium) and every other US program
Posts: 6,410
Whenever I see this kind of story (busier with more people) I get curious.

1. There are a fixed number of airplanes flying for the majors. They don't role out "spares" and create extra flights on Xmas or Mother's Day and certainly not on "going home from eclipse" Monday.

2. The flights are normally pretty full. (I won't give an exact number because I don't want to start a debate on the exact number, but I think that "pretty full" matches my experience.) So where are all these extra people going? To sit in the airport and wait for Wednesday flights? In other words, how much busier be on "leaving the eclipse Tuesday afternoon" than any are on most "business people going home on Friday 100% full afternoon"?

So when they say "normal throughput is 250/hr" do they mean that is the maximum speed on busy Friday? Or do they average in the 100/hr at 6am on Saturday with the 900/hr at 4pm on Friday?
sbrower is offline  
Old Aug 24, 2017, 4:04 am
  #7  
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
Originally Posted by sbrower
Whenever I see this kind of story (busier with more people) I get curious.

1. There are a fixed number of airplanes flying for the majors. They don't role out "spares" and create extra flights on Xmas or Mother's Day and certainly not on "going home from eclipse" Monday.

2. The flights are normally pretty full. (I won't give an exact number because I don't want to start a debate on the exact number, but I think that "pretty full" matches my experience.) So where are all these extra people going? To sit in the airport and wait for Wednesday flights? In other words, how much busier be on "leaving the eclipse Tuesday afternoon" than any are on most "business people going home on Friday 100% full afternoon"?

So when they say "normal throughput is 250/hr" do they mean that is the maximum speed on busy Friday? Or do they average in the 100/hr at 6am on Saturday with the 900/hr at 4pm on Friday?
My guess. . .

On most days everyone is flying having completed different things at different times. They get to the airport one-two hours early spaced approximately as the flights are spaced.

On totality day, the event ended at a very specific time for everyone. When it was over there was not a lot to watch or a lot to do except get home. Many just headed to the airport. If true, I suspect the later lines were lighter than normal.

So, instead of the 250-400 they would have had, they had 900. I was at BNA watching the people come in for totality in Nashville. I was curious as to the people that would travel in for an eclipse. I noticed they were mostly young, childless, and carrying only a backpack, the type of people that may screen more quickly.

Still +500 is interesting. If they can do it at all, why not always do it?
InkUnderNails is offline  
Old Aug 24, 2017, 1:26 pm
  #8  
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Orange County, CA, USA
Programs: AA (Life Plat), Marriott (Life Titanium) and every other US program
Posts: 6,410
Originally Posted by InkUnderNails
Still +500 is interesting. If they can do it at all, why not always do it?
I think you missed at least PART of my point. They don't say whether 900/hr is more or less than on EVERY Friday afternoon. I don't think that they were talking about "average maximum throughput" - I think they were talking about "average per hour, including the hours when there are only 100 people who even want to be processed."
sbrower is offline  
Old Aug 24, 2017, 1:45 pm
  #9  
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: oneword Emerald
Posts: 20,483
Originally Posted by sbrower
1. There are a fixed number of airplanes flying for the majors. They don't role out "spares" and create extra flights on Xmas or Mother's Day and certainly not on "going home from eclipse" Monday.
Actually, the major airlines do keep a handful of spare aircraft at their hubs to protect their schedules in case of maintenance issues or other irregular operations.

It is not unusual for airlines to temporarily increase capacity, by adding extra sections or upgauging equipment, for major events such as the Superbowl and political conventions.
TWA884 is offline  
Old Aug 24, 2017, 1:59 pm
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Surrey, BC
Programs: A few, *G,
Posts: 124
The simple carry on gear may be the reason. Or maybe the people were more prepared and more willing to follow the procedure rather than tweak the screeners on how they should do their jobs.

As for speed, it's easy to go faster, not sustainable long term though. Bad practice to raise the limit based on a one off.
surreycrv is offline  
Old Aug 24, 2017, 2:24 pm
  #11  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: where the chile is hot
Programs: AA,RR,NW,Delta ,UA,CO
Posts: 41,236
Originally Posted by surreycrv
The simple carry on gear may be the reason. Or maybe the people were more prepared and more willing to follow the procedure rather than tweak the screeners on how they should do their jobs.

As for speed, it's easy to go faster, not sustainable long term though. Bad practice to raise the limit based on a one off.
(bolding mine)

Why not?
chollie is offline  
Old Aug 25, 2017, 9:45 am
  #12  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Surrey, BC
Programs: A few, *G,
Posts: 124
Same reason more lanes are opened during only peak periods. Cost benefit analysis. Lines are part of life, no one wants to be the one stuck & not moving, but there will always be someone waiting while another is being waited for.
surreycrv is offline  
Old Aug 25, 2017, 10:41 am
  #13  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: where the chile is hot
Programs: AA,RR,NW,Delta ,UA,CO
Posts: 41,236
We don't know if PDX added more personnel, opened more checkpoints, or lowered the quotas on gropes and bag checks, so we don't really know why they were able to move many more people than usual without taking any short-cuts.
chollie is offline  
Old Aug 25, 2017, 11:45 am
  #14  
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Orange County, CA, USA
Programs: AA (Life Plat), Marriott (Life Titanium) and every other US program
Posts: 6,410
Of if they did NONE of those things and moved the exact same number as they move every single Friday afternoon. (I am not saying that is the case - I am simply pointing out that the statistics are totally unclear - and, unlike Superbowl, I see no evidence that the airlines had any more capacity than any other weekday afternoon - this wasn't like a hurricane warning where people might have flooded the airport in larger numbers because they were willing to sleep on the floor for 2 days - these were people with reservations for regular flights).
sbrower is offline  
Old Aug 28, 2017, 6:42 am
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Surrey, BC
Programs: A few, *G,
Posts: 124
So it seems we're in agreement, no one has any hard data if there were any changes. So no reason to assume partisan data points.
surreycrv is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.