Airline Industry Group Gives Travelers An Outlet For TSA Frustration
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- While slow-moving airport security lines have long been a necessary evil for travelers, now an airline industry group is launching a social media campaign to get flyers to join the fight against long security checkpoint delays.
The campaign is called "I Hate the Wait."
All travelers dread that feeling when your plane takes off without you after getting stuck in the airport security line.
Flyer Frank Cedarblade said it happened to him on a recent weekend.
"I gave myself an hour and 20 minutes to get through and I didn't make it," said Cedarblade.
He's not alone.
Social media channels are full of rants complaining about the extra-long lines and extended wait times at TSA checkpoints at Bay Area Airports.
Jano Avanessian tweeted a photo of the screening line snaking around SFO's International terminal.
James Mak tweeted that the line was out the terminal door in Oakland.
And at Mineta San Jose, a woman reported many people were running through the airport because they were hoping to make flights with the hashtag "TSA fail."
"It's frustrating, because usually I'm in a hurry," said Jim Hall of San Jose. "When I hit this airport, I've got someplace to go."
He told KPIX 5 the problem has gotten worse this spring.
"I see a lot of people very stressed, because they didn't realize that it takes beyond the hour that you would expect," Hall explained.
In San Jose, things got so bad, the airport put up notices to deflect the blame to the TSA.
"It's our understanding they just don't have enough staffing."
The travelers group Airlines for America is launching what they call the "I Hate the Wait" campaign on social media.
"More than two hours in line for a domestic flight is just not acceptable, said Mineta San Jose spokesperson Rosemary Barnes. Passengers here in San Jose and across the U.S. are frustrated by the current situation."
Mineta San Jose says its traveler volume is up 16 percent, but the good vibes of new flights to new world destinations is getting overshadowed by the delays.
"We're doing all this, we're giving our community what they want," said Barnes. "Unfortunately our federal partner is not able to support that increased load in traffic."
A spokesperson for the TSA blamed the rise in security wait times on the increase in the number of travelers when KPIX 5 contacted the agency Tuesday.
