Many causes, no quick fixes for long airport lines

Q: How long are the lines and how fast do they move?

A: During peak times, such as Monday mornings, other weekday mornings and holidays, lines can become so long that they stretch through the domestic terminal atrium and into the baggage claim area, where they snake around the carousels.

But those lines lead up to the main checkpoint and they filter into as many as 18 lanes, which means the line could move many times faster than one line leading up to a single checkpoint would.

So even though it sometimes appears that it could take two or three hours to get through, the peak waits are typically around an hour. Less if you’re lucky, or if you schedule flights midweek days at non-peak times such as late at night or midday.

Q: How did this happen?

A: The problem has many causes, including rapid growth in passenger counts, TSA staffing cuts and a push for more careful screening of passengers to fix security shortfalls in detecting prohibited items.

Some members of Congress also point to a history of mismanagement at TSA.

Long lines at airport security checkpoints have been common at Hartsfield-Jackson for months, but the issue is rapidly spreading across the country, to Chicago, Dallas, Denver, New York and other airports.

According to TSA, screeners in Atlanta are handling about 15 percent more passengers a day than last year, or 8,000 extra passengers a day.

Meanwhile, the agency says its budget allocated by Congress capped screener staffing at the same level as the previous year — which was the lowest level in five years. Cuts reduced TSA’s staffing by 5,600 front line workers compared with 2011, according to TSA administrator Peter Neffenger.

Q: What is being done about it?

A: Now that long lines have become a public issue, Congress is scrambling to reverse some of the staffing cuts. TSA recently got Congressional approval to shift $34 million in the Department of Homeland Security’s budget to the TSA to allow the hiring of close to 800 additional officers. That includes more than 170 screeners in Atlanta. Money will also be allotted for increased overtime.

However, bringing the new screeners on board will take weeks, as all new hires nationally go through an extensive training process at a federal training facility near Brunswick and on the job. Trainees wear white shirts while working at the checkpoint.

Hartsfield-Jackson is also getting more TSA canine units to screen passengers for expedited screening.

During much of May the problem at Hartsfield-Jackson has been worsened by closure of the smaller south security checkpoint for installation and testing of a new system aimed at moving more people through the lanes in less time.

Delta Air Lines is paying for the pilot project, which will use automated conveyor belts and RFID radio frequency identification technology to help move bags and people more quickly.

The new lanes will also feature multiple spots for passengers to prepare their bags at the same time, reducing the logjam effect when one person is slow or unaware of restrictions. Plans are to open the new lanes Tuesday, which may relieve the main checkpoint lines a bit.

Q: How long will it last?

A: Because the broader issues of increased crowds of travelers, staffing shortages and heightened security persist in Atlanta and nationally, the summer travel season is expected to bring long lines everywhere.

Don’t expect to breeze through security without a wait during peak periods anytime soon.

“Think about how holiday travel looks,” Neffenger recently told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The kinds of volume that we’re seeing now in some senses rivals what we would normally have seen around holiday periods. And that could be extended throughout the summer.”

Q: What’s the long-term outlook?

A: TSA, airport and airline officials are working on a variety of improvements rolled out over the coming months to help alleviate the lines.

For starters they are encouraging travelers to sign up for TSA’s PreCheck trusted traveler expedited screening program, which costs $85 to apply for a five-year term. PreCheck members use a separate line that usually moves faster. (But take note: there’s processing time involved in becoming a member, and if you’ve already booked you’ll have to try to get the airline to add your “known traveler” number to the reservation in order to use it for that flight.)

Hartsfield-Jackson, in its new master plan, plans to expand the queuing area at the main security checkpoint by closing down concessions on both sides.

Neffenger said he is interested in exploring ways to re-engineer checkpoints and disperse security functions, which he said could boost security while also streamlining the trek to the gate and avoiding having a large mass of people in one place.

Hartsfield-Jackson expects continued growth in passenger counts. That could renew thoughts of a second airport for metro Atlanta — one of the few big U.S. cities without one — but both the city of Atlanta and Delta Air Lines oppose that idea. In fact, in a recently-signed 20-year lease with Delta, the city promised not to open or operate a second commercial airport.

Q: Do airline baggage fees contribute to the problem?

A: Some say fees for checked bags prompt travelers to carry on more bags, all of which have to be screened at passenger checkpoints, slowing the lines.

Two U.S. senators have proposed that airlines stop charging baggage fees this summer. But airlines are loathe to lose the hundreds of millions in revenue they collect from baggage fees. They also say lines would just be longer at check-in.

Hartsfield-Jackson is considering — but has not committed to — another possibility: a “one-bag only” express lane, with the idea that those travelers “have the potential to get through the process quicker,” airport general manager Miguel Southwell said.

Q: Can Atlanta fliers use the international terminal to bypass lines in the domestic terminal?

A: Yes, under certain conditions and if everything goes right. But it can be risky, and airport and TSA officials advise against it.

The TSA says it staffs checkpoints based on known passenger counts. For the international terminal, that’s based on the number of international flights. If lots of domestic passengers head to the international terminal, that could lead to problems, according to the airport.

“That’s not something we would encourage,” said Hartsfield-Jackson spokesman Reese McCranie. “Your line may actually be longer at international.”

There are also some logistical issues that could cause headaches for travelers unfamiliar with how the airport and airline check-in is structured and designed. Among the potential pitfalls of using the wrong terminal are getting boarding passes, checking and reclaiming bags, and parking.