Airport delays blamed on several factors

Jace Radke

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 | 11:34 a.m.

Something happened at McCarran International Airport over the last month that has resulted in a return of long lines and wait times not seen at the airport's security checkpoints since the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001.

What that something is depends on whom you ask.

Transportation Security Administration officials blame increased numbers of passengers, while members of Nevada's congressional delegation point to new security screening procedures. Passengers complain that there are just too few checkpoints at the airport.

Rosemary Vassiliadis, deputy director of Clark County Aviation, said she thinks a combination of factors caused the lines that have had passengers waiting for three or four hours after the Consumer Electronics Show, Super Bowl weekend and most recently the Valentine's Day-President's Day weekend.

"Capacity, processing and more passengers all play a part," Vassiliadis said. "When you have increased traffic during peak times with increased security you see the time balloon out very quickly.

"We keep rebounding when we find something wrong, but our perfect storm continues."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other members of the congressional delegation spoke to TSA acting administrator David Stone and were assured that the screening process would be streamlined in Las Vegas to shorten the lines by this weekend.

"Some new technology went in at the screening checkpoints on Jan. 1 and that is slowing things down," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said. "Even if it slows each person only five to 10 seconds, that adds up quickly when you're talking about thousands of people."

TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said that he could not comment on specific aspects of the screening process at passenger checkpoints, but said that the TSA "is constantly reviewing and changing what we do at airports."

Currently McCarran is authorized to have 900 TSA workers, and the airport is operating at about 800 workers, said Jim Blair, TSA security director at McCarran.

Blair said that there will be changes at the checkpoints because of the long lines and said 350 additional screeners are scheduled to be hired this summer to staff new gates.

The hirings should coincide with the opening of six new checkpoints at the C and D Gate area, bringing the total number of checkpoints at the airport to 31.

"We're trying to balance out the process so that there aren't big crowds at the trams, ticketing or the checkpoints," Vassiliadis said. "We're looking into having an industrial engineer study the terminal as a whole and see if there is any place we can make further additions."

The checkpoint expansion will partially cover the open area on the second-floor mezzanine level of the airport that looks down on baggage claim. The $10 million expansion will result in 19,000 additional square feet for checkpoints, and is scheduled to be completed in August.

McCarran currently has 25 checkpoint lanes, far fewer than other large airports such as Los Angeles International, which has 54. Las Vegas is second only to L.A. in terms of the number of passengers originating or finishing a trip.

About 92 percent of McCarran's 36 million annual passengers go through the security checkpoints for their flights, with only 8 percent of passengers making connecting flights that don't require a trip through screening.

Something else that could be adding to the time passengers spend in line is that one of the seven D Gate screening checkpoints is reserved for first class passengers and disabled passengers. The airlines housed in the D Gates requested this checkpoint, McCarran officials said.

Blair said that the checkpoint allows for a way to divert those passengers who may take additional time to get through security screening from the regular lines. The line can be used for other passengers when needed, officials said.