US Airport Security - chaos?

[ChnandlerBong]

Just reading about the impact of the DHS funding issue on US airport security....

Has anyone been to the US in the last few weeks? How bad was it? Am travelling to Boston in 4 weeks and a bit worried now...

Flew into Chicago in February.
Nothing bad happened.

Same with New York. Surprisingly it was far more civilised than previous US trips. Quick, organised & staff were polite. Heathrow security on my outbound leg was actually worse!

2 Canadian pilots were killed last night, and dozens of broken bones among passengers due to an ATC mistake at LaGuardia. One of the two flight attendants was thrown from the aircraft when the flight deck was demolished, although apparently survived.

ATC were forced to work without pay during the long shutdown last fall, causing people to quit or take early retirement. They warned that the strain would have lasting impacts on stress and staffing levels of this critical role.

www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/i-messed-up-read-the-transcript-from-the-ny-plane-collision/

@CanadaNotAMum i hadn't seen the news about this crash earlier and had no idea about the ATC/TSA funding issue. Horrific.

I can see why OP posted now. Sorry OP I wasn't trying to be flippant up thread.

@CanadaNotAMum- not sure it was an ATC mistake. They played the audio from the controller tower earlier on the PM program (radio 4) and the controller couldn't possibly have done more to get the fire truck to stop.

It’s an issue over the last few days so people’s experience of flying in February won’t be relevant.

my older dc lives out there. Spring break has exacerbated things which is why it’s currently so bad. He has several friends who missed flights even turning up to the airport 5 hours early. Shortage of TSA staff means the queues for security are now several hours long. Domestic seems to be worse than international terminals.

international incoming flights aren’t so bad.

however in 4 weeks spring break will be over and there won’t be such an influx of US travellers. Boston isn’t a massive transit hub like JFK, LA, Atlanta etc so you should be fine.

He cleared the AC flight to land on the runway and then cleared firetruck to cross the same runway at the same time. That’s the first error. When he realized his error, he started saying stop, but didn’t indicate who on the radio that command was meant for until he had said the word 4 times already. (Eg “Stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck 1, stop, stop, stop. Stop, Truck 1, stop” instead of “Truck 1, stop, stop, stop, stop, Truck 1, stop, stop, stop. Stop, Truck 1, stop”.

It may not have made a difference anyway…if the truck was already crossing the runway, stopping on the runway probably meant that they were still in the path of the plane.

The ATC even said “I messed up” on the audio right after the crash. Apparently he handling both air and ground control at the time.

That crash was nothing to do with ATC. The truck was told repeatedly to stop but didn't. Not everything is trumps fault.

OP, it depends on the airport. Some are operating completely normally, including the one in my city which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the US. I was expecting it to be chaos but so far its holding up very well. I haven't heard anything about Boston in particular being badly affected but you can keep an eye on things in the run up to your flight

Stopping on the runway wouldn’t have helped. The one ATC was doing both ground and air at the time, insane for such a big airport. He admitted that he “messed up”.

@CanadaNotAMum- fair enough. I didn't hear any of the audio of the same controller giving the truck permission to cross the runway.

Either way, its a tragic accident

In the last 10 days, I’ve flown in and out of DFW, TPA and MIA, and we were ok, but the news was full of long queues at security. The TSA haven’t been paid for 2 months, but are still turning up for work. They’d appreciate being thanked for that commitment.

Our local (US) airport had 4 hour queues to get through security this weekend. It’s definitely having an effect but we’re hoping it’ll get sorted and be more or less back to normal within the next few weeks.

Thanks all - yes the La Guardia tragedy is horrendous isn't it? I wonder if that will prompt Congress to sort themselves out. Can't imagine workers turning up without being paid for long.

You can check TSA wait times live online https://www.tsawaittimes.com/security-wait-times/BOS/Logan-International. You can also see average times for each time of day.

Right now the wait at Logan is 11 minutes.

That is the queue to get through security to board your plane home. It is hitting the news in the US because it’s affecting everyone who flies, not just people arriving from abroad.

The incoming wait to get your passport checked is not being covered in the news, and it varies wildly even when we are not in a government shutdown. When MIL flew in last year the wait was an hour, with no govt shutdown. The last two times I’ve arrived from abroad (both in the last month) it’s been a couple of minutes.

I flew out of a Florida airport last weekend btw and the TSA wait was exactly what the website predicted. We waited 25 minutes which I thought was pretty good for a big Florida airport on a Saturday at the end of Spring Break. I’ve waited longer at UK and US airports to get through security.