American Airlines ripped TSA in a Wednesday statement for increasingly long security lines at airports and expressed concerns for the upcoming summer season.
NBC News reported that Ross Feinstein, spokesman for American Airlines, charged in the statement that the Transportation Security Administration was not doing enough to get passengers through the security line so they can make it to their flights on time.
"The lines at TSA checkpoints nationwide have become unacceptable," Feinstein said. "The result: our customers are waiting in TSA lines greater than one hour. … As we approach spring and summer, we are concerned that these lines will grow even longer."
American Airlines complained that during the week beginning March 14, approximately 6,800 passengers missed their flights because of delays at the TSA security line. Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, and Philadelphia were seen as the worst airports for delays.
American Airlines told the Chicago Tribune that the company saw the time in security wait lines at Chicago O'Hare International Airport go from 30 minutes to 60 minutes — with a high waiting time of 90 minutes in some cases.
"TSA is our No. 1 problem right now, and it's only going to get worse," Leslie Scott, an American Airlines spokeswoman told the Tribune, saying that about 1,000 of the company's passengers missed their flights there last month.
In a letter to the TSA in February, Miguel Southwell, the manager of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, argued about the TSA's staffing at its airport,
according to WSB-TV.
"Hartsfield-Jackson is still plagued by inadequate TSA staffing," Southwell wrote in the letter, which was posted by WSB-TV. "[Atlanta] struggled with TSA staffing shortfalls in 2015, and the airport is dreading the outcome of summer 2016. The TSA did execute a 7.5 percent increase in staffing. This increase – while appreciated – was late and inadequate."
Joseph Schwieterman, a DePaul University transportation expert, said that passengers should realize that there will be no quick fix to the TSA line problem and that they cannot arrive at the airport at the last minute and expect to get on their flight.
Other transportation experts have said that federal bureaucrats expected more people to sign up for its expedited-screening program, PreCheck. Many flyers, however, said they aren't willing to spend the application time nor the $85 fee.