Tag Archives: TSA

Mom Battling Breast Cancer Says She Was ‘Violated and Humiliated’ During TSA Search at LAX 

Dec 7, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

John and Ray discuss a media personality with breast cancer who took issue with a TSA pat down


John and Ray talk about Denise Albert’s claim that TSA inappropriately patting her down because she suffers from breast cancer and can’t go through a full body scan.

 

The full story from KTLA here:

 

“I always let them know I have a medical port and that I am wearing a wig,” says Albert, who is also a frequent guest on WPIX’s morning show.

Source: Mom Battling Breast Cancer Says She Was ‘Violated and Humiliated’ During TSA Search at LAX | KTLA

Flying out of Chicago? Arrive 3 hours before your flight

May 27, 2016 | WLS-AM Staff
By Kathryn Vasel, CNN
If you’re flying out of Chicago’s airports this summer, plan to arrive really early.
Chicago’s two major airports — O’Hare and Midway — tweeted Tuesday morning that security line wait times are longer than average, and customers should arrive at least three hours before their domestic and international flights.
The TSA had previously been suggesting passengers arrive two hours early to avoid missing a flight.
Airport security lines have been growing across the country recently thanks to an influx of passengers, and the TSA has struggled to keep up with the demand.
Low airfare prices and a recovering economy have pushed more people toward air travel. While that’s good news for the economy, it puts a strain on TSA resources.
In 2013, the TSA had more than 47,000 full-time workers serving 643 million travelers. This year, the agency reported having around 42,500 workers handling an estimated 740 million fliers.
Last week, the TSA announced a plan to help reduce checkpoint wait times, which includes the hiring of 768 officers and more overtime and part-time hours.
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin’s office announced Tuesday that O’Hare will receive 58 of the additional TSA officers and four bomb-sniffing dogs. No firm date has been set for when the additional screeners will start, but the canines will be on patrol this week.
But local lawmakers want more action.
On Wednesday, four alderman called for the city to apply for the TSA’s screening partnership program that allows airports to use private officers.
Airports in Atlanta, New York and New Jersey have made similar threats. Even when private contractors are used at airports, they are still overseen by the government.
O’Hare’s arrival time recommendation to travelers comes on the heels of a messy travel weekend at the airport.
On Sunday, the wait time at one security check point exceeded two hours, according to American Airlines spokesperson Leslie Scott.
The congestion caused 450 of the airline’s passengers to miss their flights on Sunday. Some fliers who were booked on the last flight of the day had to spend the night in the airport.
The airline also decided to delay 30 flights because of the long waits.
“That is a tough decision for us,” said Scott. “It has a lot of repercussions.” She explained that a plane can fly nine flights in a day, so a 20 minute postponement in the morning can grow to become a two-hour delay by the end of the day.
Since February, 4,500 American Airlines passengers have missed their flights at O’Hare because they were stuck in security lines.
“We’ve been dealing with this problem for a couple months now, and it’s reached a bit of a point of urgency,” said Scott.

 

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Midway Airport gets TSA PreCheck Enrollment Center

May 25, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Travelers interested in enrolling in the Transportation Security Agency’s PreCheck program can now begin the process at Midway International Airport.

A PreCheck enrollment center opened Monday in the baggage claim area of the airport near lower level door one, according to a release from the Chicago Department of Aviation.

To enroll in the TSA’s PreCheck program, travelers must first visit an enrollment center in person to begin the process, according to the CDA.

The enrollment center will be open Monday through Friday with hours from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 2-7 p.m. on Mondays with Tuesdays; and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1-5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.

Travelers that enroll in TSA PreCheck get an expedited lane at more than 15o airports, including O’Hare. Enrolled travelers are not required to remove their shoes, light jackets, belts or remove laptop computers from their bags.

Walk-ins at the enrollment center are welcomed, but travelers can also make a reservation. A passport or other documents to prove citizenship and identity are required.

An application fee of $85 must be paid with a credit card, money order or certified check. Cash and personal checks are not accepted.

© Copyright 2016 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

TSA: Come Prepared to Airport

May 19, 2016 | WLSAM Staff
By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890
(CHICAGO) The TSA put on a demonstration today showing how security lines can quickly get backed up by unprepared passengers.
They say it’s just a coincidence that the TSA put on the demonstration after hundreds of people endured long lines and missed flights earlier this week at O’Hare and Midway.
“This is not a red hearing. In fact …we wanted to do this event for more than a month. The timing, of course, with everything else that’s going on in Chicago, is kind of thrown us into making it look like were trying to use passengers to cover it up,” said TSA spokesman Mark Howell.
And while he’s not blaming the flying public, Howell says there is some shared responsibility there when it comes to things like talking off your belt and not bringing liquids through the security line.
“We are not here today to blame this on passengers. But this is one contributing factor to the lines. In preparation to coming to the airport, just take five minutes and look through your bag,” Howell said.
U.S. Sen Dick Durbin (D-IL) says more screeners are on the way and U.S Sen Mark Kirk (D-IL) says if the understaffed situation isn’t solved by Memorial Day the TSA administrator should resign.
Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson is set to meet with Mayor Rahm Emanuel Friday to discuss the recent TSA screening problems at O’Hare and Midway.

Durbin Asks Airlines to Suspend Baggage Fees

May 17, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

By Bill Cameron, WLS-AM 890 News

(CHICAGO) While the TSA works to hire more people to help with the long screening lines that have hampered at O’Hare and Midway Airports, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is working on a plan to help shrink lines.

Durbin says he’s arranged for Homeland Security to add 58 screeners and four more teams of bomb-sniffing dogs, but it’s going to take several weeks.

He’s also calling on the airlines to help speed up the lines by suspending baggage fees so that more passengers will check their baggage. He says the airlines can afford it.

“They’re making money and lets be honest about it, taking off on a plane that’s half empty because people are still standing, waiting to go through TSA, isn’t very profitable for an airline,” Durbin said. “It keeps their passengers unhappy and uncertain about future travel plans. So if the airlines will join us and forego a little bit of their profitability for a few months here, we can start to get this system working here.”

​So help is on the way, but it’s gonna take a while.

TSA Fix For Long Lines

May 13, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890 News

(CHICAGO) There were incredible lines at Midway Airport yesterday and it’s something that is being seen across the country because of a lack of TSA agents. But the federal government says it has a fix.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says the long lines seen at airports across the country isn’t to the level of a national crisis.

“I would not characterize it as a national crisis. I do characterize our current situation as a aviation security imperative,” Johnson said Friday.

The department says it will immediately increase the use of overtime and work to quickly bring in more screening officers to help alleviate long lines. Still, Johnson warns that wait times are inevitable during the busy summer travel season.

Lemont woman arrested with loaded gun at Midway

Feb 23, 2015 |

                                                                         Faith Du Bois / photo credit: Chicago Police

(Chicago)  A southwest suburban woman was arrested Sunday morning after TSA agents found a loaded gun in her carry-on bag at Midway International Airport.

A TSA officer saw what appeared to be a loaded weapon in 58-year-old Faith Du Bois’ bag in the x-ray machine at Midway at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a statement from Chicago Police.

Du Bois, of the 800 block of Woodcrest Lane in Lemont, was arrested and charged with one felony count of boarding an aircraft with a weapon, police said.

According to a statement from the TSA, Du Bois was en route to Southwest Florida International Airport. The gun was a loaded 9 mm Walther.

The gun is the third firearm discovered in carry-on luggage at Midway in 2015, according to the TSA. Last year, six firearms were discovered at Midway.

Du Bois was scheduled to appear in bond court Monday.

© Copyright 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC |

TSA found 26 guns at Chicago airport checkpoints in 2014

Jan 24, 2015 |

(CHICAGO) Transportation Security Administration officials seized 26 guns that people tried to bring onto planes at Chicago’s airports last year.

In 2014, 20 guns were seized at the security checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport, according to end-of-year statistics released by the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security. Six guns were detected at the checkpoint at Midway International Airport.

The O’Hare total is up from 16 guns detected in 2013, while the Midway number dropped from the previous year’s 13, the TSA said.

Nationwide, 2,212 firearms were found in carry-on bags at security checkpoints, and 83 percent of those were loaded, the TSA said.

While it is legal to travel with firearms, TSA regulations require that weapons be kept unloaded in a hard-sided, locked case within checked luggage. Passengers must also declare any packed guns to the airlines.

© Copyright 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC

TSA reviewing why travelers had to wait in long lines at Midway on Sunday

Dec 3, 2014 |

(Chicago)  The Transportation Security Administration acknowledged they were caught flat-footed Sunday when travelers at Midway Airport were confronted with a security line that was over a mile long, the Sun-Times reports.

“TSA is currently reviewing the causes of [Sunday’s] longer than usual wait times at [Midway] to prevent a similar occurrence in the future,” the TSA said in a statement released this week. “Unfortunately, some passengers experienced wait times that well exceeded 20 minutes on the morning of Nov. 30, the busiest travel day of the year.”

One of those travelers was Emma Cronin, 21, who was flying to Massachusetts.

She arrived at the airport Sunday morning an hour before her 9:50 a.m. “Getting through the lines usually takes 20 minutes,” Cronin said.

But she was floored to see a line that stretched all the way to the CTA station.

“The line continued all the way through the airport to the CTA Orange Line that goes to and from Midway,” Cronin said. “I was very nervous about missing my flight.”

Her story was just one of many, with some travelers taking to Twitter to kvetch about the security line delays.

“Alright it’s official I hate Midway Airport,” tweeted one frustrated traveler.

The wait hit its peak length between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., the Chicago Aviation Department said Sunday.

Sunday was the busiest travel day of the Thanksgiving holiday, TSA officials said. One reason they were caught unprepared was because a security checkpoint was not opened early to account for the increased volume, the agency said. Officials also attributed delays to early morning staffing levels that were less than anticipated.

“The agency constantly seeks to improve the passenger experience at security checkpoints nationwide, including at Chicago Midway International Airport,” the TSA said in the statement.

–Sun-Times

© Copyright 2014 Sun-Times Media, LLC

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