The travel industry offers its solutions to long TSA lines
With a new president taking office in January, the trade group for the nation’s travel industry wants to offer its ideas for fixing the biggest annoyance for air travelers: the airport screening process.
The U.S. Travel Assn. says its suggestions will help speed up the airport security lines and reduce the “confusion and dysfunction” that plagues the Transportation Security Administration.
“We cannot afford to wait until the next crisis to take a hard look at the agency’s operations,” said Roger Dow, chief executive of the U.S. Travel Assn.
The trade group estimates that if TSA lines weren’t such a hassle, Americans would make two or three more trips by air a year, generating $85 billion more in spending and creating 888,000 new jobs.
Among the ideas:
- Ensure that fees charged to travelers for TSA screening aren’t diverted for other uses. In 2013, a budget agreement in Congress raised the security fee charged to fliers but diverted part of it to the general fund. The diversion amounts to $1.25 billion this year, according to the travel group.
- Improve and expand TSA PreCheck, the program that lets travelers who undergo a government background check use an expedited screening line. The fee to join TSA PreCheck is $85, but the travel group suggests TSA offer discounts for corporate group members and children.
- Increase the use of explosives-sniffing dogs to move screening lines along faster.
- Convert the job of TSA administrator from a political appointment to a five-year position to ensure continuity.
- Ask the European Union to meet TSA screening standards so that baggage on flights to the U.S. doesn’t have to be screened again when it arrives in the U.S. Such an agreement has been reached with Canada.
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