Not long ago, the Department of Homeland Security went undercover at airports to check for vulnerabilities in the passenger screening process. The conclusions were scary: failures of technology, of procedure and human error at the Transportation Security Administration. “We found
Not long ago, the Department of Homeland Security went undercover at airports to check for vulnerabilities in the passenger screening process. The conclusions were scary: failures of technology, of procedure and human error at the Transportation Security Administration. “We found layers of security simply missing,” John Roth, the department’s inspector general, reported.
Peter Neffenger, who took the top job at TSA last year, blamed harried security officers trying to keep wait times manageable. “People were pushed through the checkpoint,” he said.
And there you have crucial background to the agony at airports throughout the country, where getting through security can take 60 to 90 minutes, causing some travelers to miss flights. It doesn’t take much reading between the lines — forgive us — to figure that TSA’s potentially dangerous screw-ups, plus a new administrator who wants to keep his job, means more methodical screenings and longer security lines.
Of course we all want strong airport security. The country is counting on TSA to protect travelers from another terrorist assault. Security appeared to tighten after the bloodbath in Brussels. We get it. But that doesn’t mean travelers should have to put up with the frustrations of interminable, unpredictable lines. The airlines, which appear as infuriated as passengers, can’t keep asking passengers to turn up earlier and earlier at the airport. Arrive three or four hours before takeoff? No.
Back to basics: TSA has two primary jobs — keep transportation safe, and run an efficient, professional operation. Americans expect both to be done right. If Homeland Security’s undercover operations lit a fire under Neffenger to be diligent about security, we trust he’s also feeling the heat to fix management of the screening process. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., told Neffenger he should get passenger lines going again at Chicago’s airports by Memorial Day or resign.
We’re not inclined to set a deadline, but the holiday weekend represents the unofficial start to the summer travel season. So, unless operations start to improve soon, lines are about to get even longer.
Some quick fixes were thrown at O’Hare and Midway this week, specifically the promise of more screening staff on duty and more bomb-sniffing canine teams, which can help expedite part of the screening process. But the problems bedeviling TSA are much broader in scope, involving the entire air travel system. A slightly faster line at O’Hare doesn’t help passengers stranded in Newark or Atlanta.
— Chicago Tribune
