Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., gave Transportation Security Administration Administrator Peter Neffenger an ultimatum this week to either reduce wait-times at airports by Memorial Day, or resign from his job.
“The flying public is experiencing a high security risk and economic burden from unnecessary wait times and missed flights due to insufficient staffing at TSA,” Kirk said in his letter to Neffenger.
Kirk noted that at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, for example, officials have recommended travelers arrive three hours before their flight. Hundreds of travelers in turn have missed flights and become stranded at the airport, and not just at O’Hare.
“The flying public is experiencing a high security risk and economic burden from unnecessary wait times and missed flights due to insufficient staffing at TSA,” Kirk said in the letter.
He reminded Neffenger that Congress just approved $34 million in more funding for TSA to hire more screening personnel and help with checkpoint delays. Roughly $26 million will go to toward more officers, while another $8 million will be used to hire 768 TSA officers this month instead of in September as planned.
“If travelers do not have relief by Memorial Day, TSA Administration Neffenger must resign and be replaced with a leader who can provide fast and secure screening,” Kirk said. He also noted that TSA should immediately deploy bomb-sniffing dog teams to speed up the process at Midway.
On Sunday, about 450 American Airlines customers missed flights due to lines of more than two hours. Another woman said when she left Midway Airport last week she and her family had stood in line for more than two hours and barely made their flight.
Kirk comments echo those made by his Democratic colleague, Dick Durbin.
Durbin said TSA needs to open more screening stations as soon as possible get more travelers on the TSA PreCheck program and airline baggage fees through summer “to reduce carry-ons and screening delays.”
There also needs to be “rational allocation of security assets like bomb-sniffing dogs,” he added.
TSA has about 42,000 officers now, down from 47,000 in 2013. Over that time, passenger volume has risen from 643 million to 740 million. TSA has a budget of $5.6 billion.
