by: Omar Jimenez, WBAL
The long lines at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints are expected to get worse this summer, and some airlines at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport are trying to help the TSA.
Private contractors will be at BWI this week hoping to take some of the workload off the TSA inspectors and decrease wait times. The TSA has seen increased passenger volume for eight straight months and record in numbers in 2015 at BWI.
"What we're doing now is not working, and it's getting worse," traveler Cari Gifford said.
Many air travelers across the country are concerned about wait times to get through security.
"In recent weeks and months, we have seen some longer than usual security checkpoint lines here at BWI. The airlines are now working together to bring in some contractor personnel to help manage the checkpoint lines," said Jonathan Dean with BWI.
In total, 22 U.S. airports that use private contractors for security screening. BWI is not one of them. The contractors come from the airlines, not the airport, and are meant to help with all the other tasks that come with security checkpoints.
In a statement a spokesman for United Airlines says, "They're there to help manage wait times, perform other non-screening tasks, and to ensure lines remain efficient."
Delta Airlines said it's providing staffing support at TSA checkpoints for tasks that will help free up TSA inspectors to open additional lanes.
"Security is obviously the highest priority," Dean said. "But we want the security checkpoint process to obviously be efficient and customer friendly. We continue to work with TSA and with the airlines to meet and to see what measures can be taken to improve that situation."
The question is: Will it work? Frequent travelers are split. One said it won't.
"You just have to have the right leadership and people have to be willing to put those people in the places they need to be," traveler Pete Gifford said.
On the other hand, it might.
"At the very least, it's going to show where the problems lie," traveler Cari Gifford said. "I don't think that it's going to necessarily push people through quicker in the beginning, but eventually it's going to show where the real problems are and help that."
The developments may play into Memorial Day weekend and the beginning of the peak travel season.
