By JASON GREENBERG
On one of the busiest travel days of the year, and on the heels of weekend airport lines that were still just too clogged, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called for a new surge in the hiring of additional Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at local New York City airports.
Just recently, Secretary Jeh Jonson, of the Department of Homeland Security, requested a reprogramming of $28 million to fund an immediate conversion of 2,784 Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) from part-time to full-time. Johnson also requested approval to hire an additional 600 agents in light of continued long lines at airport screening. Schumer says this new plan needs swift congressional approval and he will lead the charge to get it implemented as soon as possible.
“With out of control wait times at our nation’s airports, more could and should be done to help unclog the lines and improve security,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “We desperately need to convert thousands of part-time TSA officers to full-time TSA officers in order to ward off the impending ‘flypocalypse’ that will ensue when the busy summer travel season soon begins. Congress should quickly approve this request and TSA should prioritize the hiring and conversion of these officers at local New York City-area airports.”
The TSA says this reprogramming request will enable the agency to screen approximately 82,000 additional passengers each day. Following reports of outrageously long wait times at local airports, Schumer said that Congress should swiftly approve the TSA’s request for these funds so that conversion of officers from part-time to full-time status can begin immediately.
Schumer is also urging the TSA to prioritize transitioning a significant number of officers at New York airports to full-time status, as it will help provide some additional relief to not only to local New Yorkers, but to travelers across the country.
Comments Disabled By Site.
You may, however, comment through Facebook.