Hundreds of travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport were stuck in extremely long security lines Wednesday because many Transportation Security Administration screeners were unable to get to the airport due to traffic gridlock from the winter storm.
TSA spokesman Mark Howell told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the long lines may continue into Thursday, but by 10:30 a.m., the wait times, while a little longer than earlier in the morning, were still under 20 minutes.
“We have short staffing right now because some of the screeners are not able to get in to work,” Howell said Wednesday. “We’re doing the best with what we have at the airport to get folks in and through the best we can, but we’re down to minimal lanes open because of staffing.”
The lines extended into the airport’s main atrium, the spokesman said.
At Hartsfield-Jackson airport, all runways were open but security lines swelled at midday once MARTA reopened and started delivering passengers.
At 6 p.m. the line to get through security was an hour long, due in part to a shortage of TSA officers, and airport personnel — many of whom had stayed overnight — were directing passengers via fluorescent yellow temporary elastic barriers.
The mood was calm and understanding, even as a few fliers tried to wheedle their way to the front of the line with complaints of imminent departures.
Airport communications director Reese McCranie said passengers should give themselves two hours’ cushion once they arrive at the airport.
The TSA has about 1,500 workers at the airport who are staffed over several shifts. Howell did not have an immediate headcount Wednesday.
Despite the lines, the TSA said it is not streamlining the security process to cut down wait times.”There’s no lack of screening,” Howell said. “We’ll still doing full screening for everyone.”
While road conditions are expected to improve as temperatures rise and crews clear them, air travelers may face even more security delays Thursday as more of them arrive to catch rescheduled flights.
“I think we’re going to see some problems with lines tomorrow [Thursday] as well just because people are catching up to their flights,” Howell said. “I think we are going to a huge influx of passengers coming through tomorrow once the weather starts to warm up.”
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, the largest carrier serving the Atlanta airport, said Wednesday it had canceled more than 1,200 flights due to the winter storm. Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins said that as of 4 p.m. Wednesday the airline had canceled 39 departures at Hartsfield-Jackson and its AirTran operations had canceled roughly 175 of about 475 system-wide flights.
“Whenever they move those flights to another time we get an influx of passengers into the screening areas,” Howell said. “Sometimes the flights are going out around the same time.”
The TSA suggests international passengers use the Concourse F security screening rather than screening for domestic flights.
About the Author
