O'Hare Nightmare: Long TSA Lines Lead to Overnight Stays for Travelers

CHICAGO — The long security lines at O'Hare International Airport Sunday night were so lengthy that many who missed their flights were forced to bunk at the airport on cots.

American Airlines broke out the cots and blankets around 9:30 p.m. for stranded passengers who waited more than three hours to get through security. TSA today is advising air travelers to get to the airport more than three hours prior to their scheduled flights.

However, Terminal 3 looked like Weary Traveler Airport Camp on Sunday after about 450 people missed their American Airlines flights. From May 8 to May 15, an additional 795 people missed American flights at O'Hare due to the TSA line delays.

TSA attributes the long security lines to a shortage of staff at O'Hare and Midway airports, as well as airports across the country. TSA says overtime hours will be increased and efforts will be ramped up to hire more screeners.

Last week at Midway Airport, a traveler's incredulous video of a massive security line went viral. It's now been viewed more than 2 million times.

Micah Maidenberg, reporting for Crain's Chicago Business, put the TSA staffing problem and the security-line delays that follow from that into perspective:

As of last year, TSA employed 1,932 full- and part-time staffers at O'Hare, according to data Crain's obtained from the agency through an open-records request. That's more than the 1,751 people who worked for the agency at the airport in 2009, when passenger counts bottomed out amid the financial crisis.

But headcount is down compared to 2012, when there were 2,045 TSA staffers at O'Hare. And the number of fliers at O'Hare jumped 15 percent to 76.9 million people between 2012 and 2015, according to city aviation statistics.

“What we're seeing here and what we're hearing, not only from customers but also employees, is that the length of TSA lines at O'Hare is not acceptable. They are far too long,” said Leslie Scott, a spokeswoman in Chicago for American Airlines. She referenced a recent day when “for much of the afternoon we had lines that clocked in at 90 minutes. That is not the experience we want our customers to have.”

...

At Midway, TSA employed 471 people last year, up from 411 in 2009. But the agency had more staff in both 2014 and 2013 at Midway than last year, despite rising passenger volume. More than 22.2 million people flew through Midway last year.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson recently announced a new plan to cut TSA wait times at airports across the country. Security checkpoint waits have prompted airlines to ask passengers to tweet in protest with the hashtag #iHateTheWait.

Johnson says he and TSA Administrator Pete Neffender have developed "an aggressive plan to deal with it and to provide continued aviation security for the American people," according to a statement. Johnson said the effort to fix the TSA was made easier by Congress' recent decision not downsize the TSA workforce, saving 1,600 positions.

TSA has a 10-point plan to "keep passengers moving," Johnson said.

The 10-point plan includes:

1. Maximizing the use of overtime for TSA officers to meet checkpoint demands
2. Expediting the hiring of more TSA officers, adding another 768 this year
3. Deploying additional K-9 teams
4. Allowing Federal Security Directors at airports to use "increased flexibility" in providing additional trained TSA staff for screening
5. Developing specific plans to alleviate wait times at the nation's busiest airports
6. Reducing the size and number of carry-on luggage
7. Asking airlines for help in non-security tasks
8. Increasing research and development in technology to increase passenger flow
9. Encouraging air travelers to sign up for TSA Pre✓
10. Working with Congress to get additional resources for the TSA

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