ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando International Airport is trying to figure out how to fight back against problems with the Transportation Security Administration.
Airport leaders said security wait times are longer and customer satisfaction is lower than last year. The airport started a program to try to improve and rolled out little kiosks to sample how passengers are feeling about things.
The average wait for a passenger to throw their luggage and items through the X-ray machine and walk through a body scanner peaked in April, with the average person waiting 15 to 20 minutes.
"This actually isn't that bad. I was in Chicago a couple weeks ago at Midway airport. There was probably 200 people in the line in front of me," traveler Norm Patrick said.
OIA officials said the problem is the TSA and the airport board is considering a private security company instead. The board chair said he isn't sure that the company would improve speeds, but he thinks they'd be nicer to travelers.
"I firmly think that if we think Washington's going to fix this problem, then I'll bet a fortune on that they won't, because they won't fix problems," Greater Orlando Aviation Authority board chair Frank Kruppenbacher said.
Kruppenbacher said companies have told him they don't want their employees stuck in lines and at an aiport the size of OIA, money talks.
"TSA, here are the issues. Address the issues. It's about customer service. If you address them, I'm happy. If you don't address them, then you leave us no alternative than to explore (if they can) be handled in a different way," Kruppenbacher said.
Problems could get worse at the airport, as July will bring a spike in passengers.
"In the interest of safety, I guess that's what you have to do. But we need more TSA people here," Patrick said.
Phillip Brown, executive director of Orlando International Airport, said a cut at the federal level left the airport with 100 fewer agents during the last six to eight months, so TSA has been playing catch-up as the airport grows.
"In the private sector, the theme parks, the things you can do with technology and recognizing people is clearly well-advanced, and we just need to be able to take advantage of that," Brown said.
The airport said that, instead of setting examples for how to handle record crowds, TSA has offered unimaginative leadership and made the airport feel boxed in. As a result, the airport has set up its own crowd-control system and is staffing people ahead of security to try to keep things running smoothly.
"It is not the ultimate solution because a lot of this resides not only with TSA, but with Congress," Brown said.
The board of directors is expecting reports next month on what TSA is doing to improve and what the airport has to do if it's going to get rid of TSA.
For more information about this story, contact Field Sutton.
Cox Media Group
