Congress OKs Funding to Ease TSA Wait Times

Tiffany Gomas, a marketing executive who went viral for her outburst on an American Airlines flight, publicly apologized on Sunday evening for her conduct.

I've been a Taylor Swift fan for a long time, so when she announced her Eras Tour in the US, I did everything I could to grab tickets. 

As America faces a storm of geopolitical threats, endures a flood of fentanyl streaming across a largely open southern border—now killing some 100,000 Americans annually, wrestles with soaring inflation, and experiences unmitigated crime in many of our largest cities, the Biden Administration’s recent move to defund schools that offer hunter safety and archery programs has many questioning President Biden’s priorities. The administration seems to be misfiring on many cylinders and, not surprisingly, Joe Biden’s approval rating continues to plummet. “It’s right up there with jock itch,” recently quipped Senator John Kennedy.

With no sign of relief in sight, the TSA’s inability to effectively and efficiently manage airport security screening promises to remain this summer’s biggest bad-news travel story.

The TSA has been in the news lately, and not for a good reason. As you may have noticed, the security lines at most major U.S. airports are ridiculously long—so long that many people are actually missing flights despite arriving at the airport within the typical two-hour window.

It’s been almost 15 years since Richard Reid, better known as the shoe bomber, failed in his attempt to bring down an American Airlines flight with an explosive hidden in his shoe. And yet here we are, all these years later, still shuffling through TSA checkpoints in our socks or bare feet. Why, you might ask, are we still forced to do this?

Give thanks! Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, American and United have launched automated security screening lanes at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Two of American’s 18 lanes have been converted, and United has added three automated lanes of its own.

The long lines, missed flights, and traveler outrage have been front-page news for months. And there’s little prospect that the bottleneck at the TSA’s airport security checkpoints can be ameliorated in time to for the summer travel crush.

Not to be outdone by American’s $4 million lifeline to the TSA, Delta has gone a step further and actually designed and implemented new security checkpoints at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.

Travelers who grumble that the airlines have gone too far in shrinking the width and legroom of coach-class seats won’t be getting any relief from Congress any time soon.

In news that might signal a win for fast-moving New Yorkers, the city that’s home to Times Square has paved colored lanes within the headache-inducing Midtown tourist drag, separating street performers and their audiences from pedestrians who are in a hurry.

It was only a handful of months ago that we were posting headline after headline bemoaning the seemingly sudden onslaught of schedule-and soul-crushing lines at TSA security checkpoints. Back in May it seemed as if travelers might be in for a prolonged quagmire of unknown duration at the country’s airports.