Oakland Airport Hires Private Security Guards To Help Speed Up TSA Lines

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- There was a short security line at the Oakland International Airport Thursday afternoon, but workers said the morning rush consisted of a line a few hundred deep.

Bruce Brill, a musician who performs at the airport, said, "I especially like it, because they're here and they see the tip jar."

Workers say the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) line can be rough between 4 and 8 o'clock in the morning, but that it is nothing compared to other busy airports.

Brill said, "They come here and they see it, they say 'oh my god.'"

Oakland is trying to keep passengers happy. The airport will hire 30 security guards to help speed up the line.

The new security guards will start in mid-June.

Oakland is the only Bay Area airport to do this and it'll cost them about $42,000 a month or roughly half a million dollars a year.

That means the airport's new employees will be earning around $10 per hour and working 35 hours or less a week.

The airport says the guards won't be screening passengers, but will instead do non-essential tasks. Things like reminding passengers to remove their shoes, take their laptops out and have their boarding passes and IDs ready.

The TSA welcomes the help and they say it'll free up TSA agents to focus on screening passengers.

Kim Hancher, of San Rafael, said "Anything that can help speed up the process is great."

Mike Sinclair, of Healdsburg, said, "Good idea to speed up the process. I know there's been a lot of complaints about the length of time getting through security."

The TSA says a strong economy means more people are flying and that long security lines at some of the nation's busiest airports are causing some people to miss their flights.