Former TSA Administrator: Wait Times ‘A Perfect Storm'

A former top administrator with the Transportation Security Administration said this week what is happening at airports across the country — long TSA security lines forcing some delayed flights, and hundreds of people to miss flights that took off while they waited — is the result of a “perfect storm” of problems.

Former TSA Assistant Administrator Michael Restovich helped launch the agency in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“There’s a balance that needs to be met between security and wait times,” he said.

Restovich told NBC DFW the long lines grew from seeds that were sown last year, when the TSA was embarrassed by the revelation that undercover federal agents were able to successfully sneak weapons past security screeners 95 percent of the time during a test of operations.

What resulted from those failed tests, Restovich said, was an increased focus on training of agents, all of which is done at a centralized training facility in Georgia.

“That takes time away from screening, but it led to strengthening of screening operations which then takes more time,” he said.

Restovich said it's a no-win issue for the TSA.

“Congress says, ‘You’ve got to do something about the failed tests.’ So they strengthen that. And then what that does is cause wait times to increase. And then Congress gets upset and says, ’Hey, you’ve got to do something about the wait times.’”

This week, the TSA announced it is immediately sending dozens of new screeners to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, which has seen the most significant impact of increased security wait times.

The airline industry has put pressure on TSA to boost its staff at airports across the country. The security agency has responded by committing nearly 800 new agents by the end of summer.

In return, the Department of Homeland Security has requested that the airlines waive the fee for checked bags, which rake in billions of dollars for the industry, to encourage few carry-on bags.

Restovich said both strategies can be effective, as could others. For example, the former Secret Service agent noted that the PreCheck program needs to be streamlined.

PreCheck allows passengers access to an expedited security screening process once they have passed a background check and filed the appropriate paperwork.

Restovich said the $85 to $100 application fee, which covers five years of the program, is too high of a price point for many travelers. In addition, he noted that the process to apply for the program is too difficult.