Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
U.S. airports still understaffed for peak travel: TSA head
Source: Reuters
World | Wed May 25, 2016 6:58pm EDT
U.S. airports still understaffed for peak travel: TSA head
BY JEFFREY DASTIN
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is taking steps to shorten airport lines including moving officers to different posts, but still lacks the staffing to handle peak travel times, Administrator Peter Neffenger said in a Congressional hearing Wednesday.
A shortage of staff and a surge in air travelers have created a nightmare scenario for TSA, with airport wait times in places like Chicago stretching beyond two hours. Neffenger said TSA's insufficient preparation in Chicago was a "failure."
Neffenger said TSA is seeing how it can re-deploy officers who are trained to detect irregular passenger behavior to posts where they check traveler documents, thereby freeing up others to staff screening machines. It also wants to move part-time agents into full-time work.
"There are efficiencies we can gain in the way we deploy our people," Neffenger said.
TSA is projected to screen some 740 million people at U.S. airports this year, up almost 100 million from 2013, Neffenger said. Yet TSA's staffing has fallen more than 12 percent in that time to around 42,000.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
U.S. airports still understaffed for peak travel: TSA head
BY JEFFREY DASTIN
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is taking steps to shorten airport lines including moving officers to different posts, but still lacks the staffing to handle peak travel times, Administrator Peter Neffenger said in a Congressional hearing Wednesday.
A shortage of staff and a surge in air travelers have created a nightmare scenario for TSA, with airport wait times in places like Chicago stretching beyond two hours. Neffenger said TSA's insufficient preparation in Chicago was a "failure."
Neffenger said TSA is seeing how it can re-deploy officers who are trained to detect irregular passenger behavior to posts where they check traveler documents, thereby freeing up others to staff screening machines. It also wants to move part-time agents into full-time work.
"There are efficiencies we can gain in the way we deploy our people," Neffenger said.
TSA is projected to screen some 740 million people at U.S. airports this year, up almost 100 million from 2013, Neffenger said. Yet TSA's staffing has fallen more than 12 percent in that time to around 42,000.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-tsa-idUSKCN0YG2CG
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
