U.S. carriers are supplying extra staffing and resources to
alleviate growing security lines in advance of the summer travel season, as
lengthening security checkpoint lines cause headaches across the country.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines separately
have announced they will spend as much as $4 million each to supplement staff
at select U.S. airports, including their respective headquarters hubs. These
employees assist the U.S. Transportation Security Administration in nonsecurity
roles, such as managing lines or replenishing the bins in which travelers place
personal belongings.
In addition, carriers are reconfiguring some checkpoints.
Delta, for example, invested $1 million in two redesigned checkpoint lanes that
opened this week at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. United,
meanwhile, has redesigned checkpoints at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport
and is consolidating three checkpoints at Newark Liberty International Airport
into one and constructing a new checkpoint at Los Angeles International
Airport.
The investments come as airlines face potential diminishing
demand as a result of long security lines. A U.S. Travel Association survey of
2,500 Americans planning to fly this summer found that more than one-fifth were
considering delaying trips or traveling by alternative means to avoid security
snarls, the organization reported this week.