Increased waiting time at airport passenger security screening stations is drawing attention to TSA staffing, with the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee recommending that the agency look to become more efficient in deploying its staff.
The AFGE union, which represents many TSA screeners and related employees, recently called on the administration and Congress to increase employment, saying that while the TSA is authorized to have 45,000 screeners, it currently has only about 42,000. Even the agency’s request to add 1,000 in its next budget will be inadequate, the union said.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., expressed similar concerns about waiting times in a recent letter to TSA, saying that “staffing shortages often leave lanes unused” and “may create an additional vulnerability.”
However, noting that “we are working in a time where budgets are constrained,” he recommended that TSA first review its staffing allocation model and procedures to “ascertain if any room exists where efficiencies can be achieved.”
In particular, he pointed to a GAO report questioning the SPOT—screening passengers by observation techniques–program and suggested that TSA “should strongly consider the possibility of reallocating these individuals to perform other screening functions.”
