TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Security lines at Tucson International Airport have gotten so long they sometimes go from a terminal through the lobby all the way to another terminal.
The waits prompted U.S. Rep. Martha McSally to send a letter Tuesday to the head of the Transportation Security Administration questioning how TSA was dealing with staffing shortages that have led to the longer lines.
“I am concerned that the TSA’s existing hiring practices are cumbersome and unable to meet the pressing mission needs of the agency,” McSally wrote.
Long lines have affected many airports across the country as TSA cut staffing in anticipation that its program known as PreCheck would reduce the need for screeners.
The program gives vetted passengers special screening that allows them to go through security faster.
TSA cut its airport screener staff by 10 percent in the past three years. But not enough travelers have enrolled in the program.
In Tucson, that means the nearly 4 million passengers who go through the airport each year are seeing increasingly long security lines.
“Our hope is that TSA in Washington will reassess the staffing model for airports and look at what is necessary to efficiently, and, most important, safely process the passengers,” Tucson International Airport president and CEO Bonnie Allin said.
No one was available at the agency to comment after business hours on Tuesday.
TSA has said it is relocating 28 of its 142 canine teams to the country’s busiest airports so it can put more fliers through expedited lines. TSA continues to train hundreds of screeners a week.
McSally, who travels through the Tucson airport on most weekends, said efforts to address security shortfalls have resulted in “immense obstacles” in ensuring efficient travel.
“People are returning to flying and this is very concerning to have long security lines,” Allin said.
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