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Another voice: Safe ways to speed airport security

 
Published May 6, 2016

Going through airport security, which has never been pleasant, is becoming a hellish experience as wait times increase around the country, in some cities to several hours.

Security lines have gotten longer in part because more Americans are flying and government spending on security has not kept up with that growth. Passenger traffic was up nearly 5 percent, to 807 million trips, in the 12 months that ended in January, according to the Department of Transportation. But the number of authorized employees in the Transportation Security Administration's airport security operation is down nearly 3 percent from the 2015 fiscal year.

In fact, the number of screeners has fallen every year since 2013. And even though the needs are growing, the Obama administration has asked Congress for a modest addition of only 323 positions, or less than a 1 percent increase in staffing, for the 2017 fiscal year.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security, of which the TSA is a part, appeared to act with more urgency. It said that the government would hire more airport screeners and increase the number of bomb-sniffing dogs. Money for these measures will come from other parts of the TSA budget, but the department and Congress need to do more.

Congress authorized $4.15 billion for the TSA's airport screening operation in 2016, up just $37 million from the year before. That's clearly inadequate, given the increase in passengers. In addition to more money, the TSA needs greater flexibility to increase spending when demand for air travel surges. For example, Congress should allow the department to tap into more of the money the government collects from a security tax levied on tickets when traffic grows faster than projected. In the past, Congress has diverted some of that revenue to the general fund.

The security agency can also reduce wait times by making smart adjustments that don't require congressional action. One step, suggested by a trade association representing airports, is to give local TSA managers the power to spend more money on overtime during busy periods without consulting headquarters.

The agency also needs to get more passengers to sign up for the PreCheck program, which allows those who have been preapproved by the TSA to go through security without removing their shoes and belts or taking laptop computers out of bags. That reduces wait times for everybody by cutting the number of people in the main security line.

The TSA has set a goal of signing up 25 million passengers to PreCheck in the next three years. So far, it has registered only 2.5 million, though officials say enrollment is picking up. The Department of Homeland Security has signed up 6.5 million people in other trusted travelers programs, like Global Entry; those people are also eligible for PreCheck. The TSA might be able to encourage more sign-ups if it reduced the $85 registration fee, which is good for five years.

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The recent terrorist attack in Brussels showed that airports remain a big target, and agencies like the TSA have a difficult job. It was heavily criticized last year after an investigation by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security revealed that airport security workers often failed to detect weapons, mock explosives and other prohibited items. Travel experts say some of the steps the agency took in response probably contributed to the increased wait times.

Clearly, safety can't be compromised to reduce wait times. But there is no doubt that the TSA and Congress can do a lot more to make screening more efficient and a better experience for travelers.