lougord99

Most of you are probably elite and so this doesn't affect you. I don't fly that often out of MKE and don't know how common this is. This morning the line to concourse D went out around the info station, to the food court and over to the wall. It took me 26 minutes to get through security. Luckily, I had left plenty of time.

MKE Sam

Was it your sense that this was due to the recent addition of WN flights to the D concourse, understaffed TSA, or some other factor?

RSVP

I saw the same mess on Saturday morning as I was headed to Concourse C.

I suspect it is the addition of the Frontier aircraft and the addition of Southwest. This may die off after awhile, don't forget, there were a lot of Southwest bargain fares when they announced their schedule in June.

lougord99

There were plenty of TSA agents working the lines and people moved through as fast as could be expected. It is just that there were more people than the set-up at D concourse was designed to process. The scary thing to me is that I assume that WN will only increase the number of flights out of MKE.

newsmanhoss

I have run into long lines at D especially on Monday mornings and around the holidays. But, I suspect this is due to WN's expansion. After all, they have added 12 daily flights on 737s, and they're probably packed pretty full if I had to guess.

Were all of the lines at the checkpoint open? Were they doing all that they could to deal with the volume of people?

mke9499

What time was this?

Last Friday morning, I went through security on D, with about a two minute wait at 8:00 AM. The passengers for the early morning bank of flights had already cleared. There is more likely to be a backup between 6:00 AM and 7:30 AM.

At holiday times, I have seen the line form with wait time approximating your delay. However, this was prior to the relocation of F9 to D and the arrival of WN.

I am not looking forward to travel during the peak holiday periods this year.

RSVP

Arriving at 5:30 AM will beat the crowds and you can fly thru security.

Tim34

You think that's bad, try catching a flight our of SEA or SFO in the morning at night (red eye transcons) the lines are hellish

lougord99

I arrived around 6:30am on Wednesday morning. It appeared to me that TSA was doing everything they could given the constriction of the number of belts they have there.

N830MH

I'm guess that you should come to airport early due to long lines at security. You should give yourself more extra times. I think TSA will have to be expanded more security lanes. it must to get more help to get reductions wait time at security. No more wait than 10 minutes at checkpoint. I would have to be increase the bags cutoff time requirements from 30 to 45 minutes. It will be very extremely overcrowded are trying to get through. I think TSA need to hiring more security officers during busiest holidays rush. I think you should come to airport early is 2.5 hours in advance.

MKE Sam

The lines were very short for the D concourse today at 7:30am.

BlueHorseShoe2000

Lines tend to be fine once you get past the first bank of flights in the morning. By 7:30 am, most of the Midwest morning flights have either already departed or are in the process of boarding.

lougord99

That is good to know. Thanks.

MMiles

Appreciate getting your comments on this issue. Midwest is working with TSA daily on this issue. We are seeing 15-18 minute waits (peak has been 23 minute). TSA times only to the ticket checker - that is their standard....so there is additional time to get through checkpoint.

We provide our passenger projections to TSA and have reminded them that the A319's were coming and suggested they talk to WN. Each day - our supervisors are timing the lines and working with TSA...daily discussing the staffing with TSA Supervisors. Unfortunately their staffing levels are directed from DC, not locally.

In addition, we've noticed a growing number of passengers showing up a short 30-45 minutes before departure. The lines have not been long at the counter - we just see people showing up later and later on the concourse.

Midwest is now providing bag runners to support TSA so they can focus their resources on screeners. We also plan to initiate messaging on the Web and other passenger communications encouraging people to get to the airport early - the airport is busy and lines can be long - especially right before departure.

Thanks for all of your feedback on this issue.

mke9499

The TSA website used to have a wait time calculator, based on your airport, concourse, time, and day of week. Unfortunately, the feature now states it is "under construction."

If/when it is up and running, again, it might be a useful link on YX's homepage, especially during peak travel periods.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/waittime.shtm