New Yorkers can blame themselves for unbearably long lines at area airports, the Transportation Security Administration said in response to criticism from the Port Authority.
The TSA admitted that waiting times at Newark, JFK and LaGuardia airport security checkpoints had increased since last year — hitting a high of 55 minutes this spring — but blamed the spike on passengers who clog up checkpoints with too many carry-on bags.
“In many cases bringing more than the airline industry standard of one carry-on bag and one personal item per traveler,” the TSA said in a press release, which also blamed the uptick on shrinking staff.
“Individuals who come to the TSA checkpoint unprepared for a trip can have a negative impact on the time it takes to complete the screening process,” the agency added in the statement, which told passengers to be more prepared.
But the Global Gateway Alliance shot back that the TSA needs to take responsibility for worsening waits.
“Blaming passengers won’t solve the problem of unconscionably long security lines at our airports,” GGA chairman Joseph Sitt said Thursday.
“Instead, TSA needs to address the issue head on to avoid a real crisis during the busy summer travel season,” he added.
Sitt suggested the TSA “relentlessly” push to hire more staff, better market the PreCheck program, which fast-tracks security screening, and publish wait times in real time.
“Safe and efficient security at our airports is too important to get wrong,” he warned.
A letter from the PA’s chief security officer, Thomas Belfiore, to TSA boss Peter Neffenger earlier this week called the lengthening lines at Big Apple airports “abysmal.”
Average wait times had jumped from 12.7 minutes in the period between March 15 and April 15 in 2015 to 20.9 minutes in the same period this year, the letter stated.
The longest wait time also spiked to a grueling 55 minutes, compared to a high of 30 minutes during the same period last year.
Belfiore said patience among flyers had reached “a breaking point.”