Atlanta Airport Renovating Checkpoint To Shrink Wait Times

At least one airline, American Airlines, which operates about 50 flights out of Atlanta, says the waits are causing passengers to miss their planes.

“The biggest thing that’s driving it is the volume,” says Mark Howell, regional spokesperson for the TSA. “We’re screening about 8,000 passengers more a day than we were at the same time last year.”

They’ve also beefed up security measures, Howell says. And that’s all without increased staffing, which usually would require more funding from Congress.

But Howell says, with a possible record-breaking summer for flying ahead, the TSA is taking some measures to try to meet the demand, starting with the south checkpoint construction.

As part of a pilot program with Hartsfield-Jackson, they’re installing new equipment on two of the four lanes in the checkpoint. One addition, for example, will be a conveyor belt that automatically replaces bins, so TSA workers don’t have to.

They’re also bringing 100 new security officers to Atlanta with existing funding, Howell says, and using more canine units to improve wait times.

The additions come after Hartsfield-Jackson wrote a letter to TSA earlier this year saying the airport was concerned about the long lines and was considering switching to a private security service.

Airport spokesperson Reese McCranie says the airport has since taken that option off the table.

“We want to see how this pilot program goes. We want to see once we’ve got new canine units and additional TSA officers, what kind of results that yield,” McCranie says.

During the three-week closure of the south domestic checkpoint, McCranie says more lanes will be open at other checkpoints to ease congestion.

Still, McCranie asks passengers to take the suggested arrival time seriously. That’s two hours before departure for domestic flights.