pbr6891

Wondering if any of you would know why some airports/terminals have such lines ... and why other do not ....
I can't figure it out .... it doesn't appear to be related to size, being a hub for an airline or anything that is obvious ....
Focusing on UA terminals: SFO yes, ORD yes, RDU (?) yes (!), MIA yes, HNL yes but somehow IAD NO ???? (this is even more weird given that there are loads of diplomats, and senior gov folks with their dedicated parking spots that are flying out of IAD !)

Who has the initiative to create such lines :
-TSA ?
-Airport authority ?
-Airlines ?

Pierre

TSAMGR

The airlines are technically in charge of the queue to the checkpoints. The TSA won't separate passengers except for selectees and it is the private ticket checker's responsibility.

Decomposing Screener

What goes on outside the metal detectors is the airlines domain. My checkpoint does have a first class line but that is only because the primary airline that flys out of there wants one. I've had several passengers complain to me about that but all I can say is that is the airlines call. You don't become the TSA's priority until you reach the metal detector.
However, on the flip side i've had first class passsengers complain when I waved over passengers to the first class line after they were past the ticket checkers. My response was, "nobody was using the line at that time, why can't they?"

SteveinA2

This appears to be having contradictory opinions depending on what suits you?

"You don't become the TSA's priority until you reach the metal detector"
"Nobody was using the line at that time, why can't they?"

wahooflyer

Yes, IAD desperately needs an elite line at peak times. Perhaps once the construction in the main terminal is complete and more security lanes open they'll add one.

AArlington

Fly out of DCA instead. Delta and Continental have an elite line. AA has Registered traveller and the normal lines never seem to be to terrible.

Make the politicians and big wigs wait in security like everybody else. It will be good for them.

Decomposing Screener

So is your point we shouldn't cut people a break and wave them over to the 1st class line so passengers can get through the line faster? Like I said if the line is empty what's the problem? I'm afraid the shortage of space and screeners does not allow us to have a dedicated 1st class/employee lane(note i said lane as in where the machines are). Sheesh next thing you know we'll be giving passengers 10 bucks for clearing the checkpoint and they will yell and say "I WANT 20!"

If we really have to have the full specs on this the airlines set up the dividers you go through in the line and usually provide the ticket checkers so technically what happens outside the metal detectors is their problem. However once you get past the ticket checkers and your actually in line at one of the lanes it's kind of a neutral area I suppose. The ticket checkers and the TSA usually both realize that it's in everyone's best interest to do whatever we can to get the line moving.

pbr6891

The more I think about it, the more I believe my primary issue with the current system at IAD is more the fact that you cannot predict given the same circumstances (same day of the week, same time of day, no special case like holiday) how long its going to take.
And I must add the variance is quite large and makes absolutely no sense: case in point yesterday (wed before thanksgiving) by any means the worst day for travel I barely waited 5 minutes in line at IAD security @ 3PM ... A couple weeks prior to that (midweek, mid-afternoon) I spent 45min to go through ...

So ... here is my question : do the airlines communicate PAX counts expected per flights throughout the day ?(corrected to remove the connecting PAXs that do not go through security)
(if they do, then, I guess it's time for TSA to uses the data to staff it's stations !)

Cholula

This inconsistency of screening time is one of the big issues for those of us passing through airports weekly. As you said...same airport, same time, no unusual circumstances...and yet one week there is no wait and the next it’s 30-45 minutes.
And you can hardly plan for the zero wait time...you really need to factor in the worst case scenario. This often results in needless minutes/hours spent cooling your heels in some airline gate area.
It would be very helpful if we could get....from some source... a real-time estimate of the checkpoint lines before leaving for the airport.
Delta uses historical data and publishes estimated wait times on their website. But the info is virtually useless because so many circumstances can change the wait times dramatically. Plus the estimates of wait time aren’t buttoned up enough to be meaningful. An estimate of wait times that ranges from 5 minutes to 75 minutes at a particular airport is useless when planning your schedule.

ND Sol

Review this thread for some thoughts on your question: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=372610

wahooflyer

DCA security lines have been very long lately--upwards of 30 minutes at the times I've flown. I usually fly US Airways out of the C pier and missed my flight last week because I was stuck in security and didn't bother to show up until 45 minutes before flight time. Yes, it was my fault for not getting to the airport earlier, but I never had that much of a problem at DCA before.

As for the registered traveller program at the AA gates, didn't you have to be invited to participate?

JBLUA320

JFK has seperate lines, and even screening machines for Economy, Business AND First in JFK T4. The Business line wasn't that much shorter than the Economy line.

Decomposing Screener

Yes but their estimations are often wrong and can't be relied upon to adjust staffing levels. All we can really do it go by what days are like on the average and take any special events into account. I'm sure the schedulers have other tactics as well. Latest great overhype would be the day before thanksgiving when we were projected to be swamped but ended up only moving 7500 passengers through the checkpoint which is nothing. That's a normal steady day, busy days aren't until the numbers pass 9000.

jcooke

I'm guessing someone's come up with the idea of a "health monitor" for the checkpoints, similar to the idea for traffic reports that radio and TV news stations report. Would it really be that hard to implement something of the likes for passenger checkpoints?

You could get as sophisticated as having cameras mounted at each checkpoint and then a group of people remotely monitoring checkpoints throughout the US. Or on the other side, have something as simple as a status page someone can update on a 5-min basis. Have perhaps 5 buttons, 0-5 min wait, 5-10 min wait, 10-20 min wait, 20-30 min wait, 30+ min wait. All of it automatically updates to a main site.

-JC

TSAMGR

The TSA website does publish the wait times for checkpoints http://waittime.tsa.dhs.gov/index.html
The wait times are taken from historical data.

Nice idea but for one big problem. $$.