TSA says it kept summer lines short by hiring and promoting more screeners
Next time you come across an airport screener, take the time to say “Thanks.”
That is the request by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who credited major staffing changes at the Transportation Security Administration for avoiding gridlock and long lines at airport security checkpoints this summer.
Because of a shortage of TSA screeners, lawmakers and airlines had predicted long waits, headaches and confusion at the nation’s airports during the peak summer travel season.
But Johnson said the TSA kept lines short by hiring 1,368 new TSA screeners, converting 1,865 part-time staff into full-time employees and redeploying screeners to the busiest airports in the country. He also gave credit to airline workers for taking on non-security tasks at the checkpoints.
As a result, 92% of air travelers this summer waited less than 15 minutes in screening lines, Johnson said.
“My request to the public, next time you see a TSA officer at an airport at a checkpoint, just say thank you,” he said.
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