TSA agents help passengers through a security checkpoint at Newark Liberty International Airport, as the partial government shutdown continues to disrupt the TSA. (Seth Wenig | AP Photo)
It is not easy to fly out of Newark these days.
Wait times to get through security lines at Newark Liberty International Airport over the past week in the wake of the government shutdown were the third worst in the country, according a NJ Advance Media analysis of Transportation Security Administration data.
Only passengers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport spent more time on line without their shoes, waiting for their stuff to be scanned.
On Friday, the maximum wait at Newark Liberty was 35 minutes, which was the second highest wait in the country that day. Wait times on security lines are up nationwide because many TSA screeners, who are not getting paid because of the government shutdown, are calling in sick. Some airports have cut down on the number of checkpoints in terminals because of the lack of manpower.
This past weekend, however, Sunday was the best day of the week for air travelers at Newark Liberty, after the TSA sent in reinforcements to New Jersey last week. The maximum wait time on Sunday was just 18 minutes -- which is currently the national average, the data shows.
Nationwide, the TSI said it screened 1.78 million passengers on Sunday. For 99.9 percent of the passengers, the wait was less than 30 minutes and 93.1 percent of passengers waited less than 15 minutes, TSA officials said.
With the added personnel, wait times at Newark Liberty are now consistent with airports across America, said a TSA spokesman in a statement. In addition to the extra help at Newark, the agency has dispatched more screeners to airports in Atlanta and LaGuardia Airport in New York. A TSA spokesman said other airports might also be getting additional help.
With the federal government shutdown now entering its second month, TSA screeners are continuing to work without getting paid. More are not showing up for their shifts, putting stress on the system. According to the TSA, 10 percent of its workforce was not on the job on Sunday, compared to a national rate 3.1 percent of unscheduled absences on the same date a year ago.
Some airport security checkpoints have been forced to temporarily close because of fewer screeners. TSA closed one of its checkpoints at Baltimore/Washington airport on Sunday, but said it was open again on Monday. A checkpoint at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport remained closed.
Officials said many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations. If the shutdown doesn't end early this week, those workers face missing another paycheck.
The 20 airports with the longest average security lines this past week:
20. Orlando International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 18.3 minutes*
Longest maximum daily wait: Sunday: 20 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Tuesday: 17 minutes
*All data from TSA from 1/14 thru 1/20
19. Dallas Love Field
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 18.4 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Monday: 41 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Tuesday: 9 minutes
18. John F. Kennedy International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 19 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Sunday: 22 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Monday, Friday and Saturday: 18 minutes
17. Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Ct.
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 19.1 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Saturday: 29 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Sunday: 3 minutes
16. McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 19.3 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Friday: 29 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Saturday: 14 minutes
A Transportation Security Administration worker screens luggage at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. (Spencer Platt | Getty Images file photo)
15. LaGuardia Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 19.4 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Sunday: 29 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Monday: 10 minutes
13. (tie) Denver International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 19.6 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Friday: 32 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Sunday: 13 minutes
13. (tie) Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 19.6 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Friday: 26 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Tuesday: 15 minutes
12. Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 19.9 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Monday: 29 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Friday: 10 minutes
9. (tie) George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 20 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Thursday: 28 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Monday: 14 minutes
9. (tie) San Francisco International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 20 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Saturday: 27 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Thursday: 16 minutes
9. (tie) Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 20 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Friday: 24 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Wednesday: 16 minutes
An American Airlines aircraft takes off from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. (Tony Gutierrez | AP file photo)
8. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 21.1 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Friday: 28 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Thursday: 16 minutes
7. Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, San Juan
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 21.6 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Wednesday and Saturday: 26 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Friday: 17 minutes
6. Baltimore-Washington International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 22.1 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Sunday: 25 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Wednesday: 19 minutes
5. Miami International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 23.4 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Monday and Friday: 28 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Tuesday and Wednesday: 19 minutes
4. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 23.6 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Friday: 34 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Sunday: 10 minutes
Transportation Security Administration agents help passengers through a security checkpoint at Newark Liberty International Airport. (Seth Wenig |AP Photo)
3. Newark Liberty International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 26.7 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Friday: 35 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Sunday: 18 minutes
2. Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 28.7 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Saturday: 41 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Tuesday: 17 minutes
1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Average maximum TSA wait time through Sunday: 41 minutes
Longest maximum daily wait: Monday: 88 minutes
Shortest maximum daily wait: Tuesday and Sunday: 23 minutes
Air travelers endured waits of more than an hour to get through domestic checkpoints at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta last Monday. (John Spink | Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
The impact to travelers
Despite the security lines, United Airlines -- the largest air carrier at Newark Liberty -- said it has not seen an operational impact on its flights out of New Jersey.
"We are continuing to work closely with TSA, our airport partners and other relevant agencies to ensure our customers get to their destinations safely," said the airline. "At this time, there is not an attributable impact to United's operations, however due to some security checkpoints having reduced TSA staffing, we are encouraging our customers to allow enough time to go through security screening at their departure airport."
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark Liberty, along with New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia, said it has not seen any sustained long wait times due to staffing shortages.
Wait times are posted on the authority's website and were as short as 2 minutes on Monday afternoon at Gates 51-57 at Newark's Terminal B, and no wait at all at some of the TSA Pre-Check lines in Terminal A.
Wait times are different for different gates because Terminals A and B at Newark Liberty do not have a single, centralized screening point for all gates.
Terminals A and B have separate screening points for each concourse, serving different sets of airlines at Newark. Those carriers schedule peak loads at different times. In Terminal B, for example, gates 60-68 serve international carriers, which operate the largest wide-body aircraft, so big waves of travelers can hit the screening points all at once.
Officials said wait times, however, are transitory can can diminish quickly.
A TSA security checkpoint at Newark Liberty. (Seth Wenig | AP Photo)
A smooth trip for one passenger
Frances Martin of Honesdale, Pa., said she had no problems at all flying out of Newark Liberty last Tuesday morning for a trip to see Celine Dion in concert in Las Vegas.
"I had a 7:15 flight from Newark and I just thought I don't know how it's going to be. I left the hotel at 5 in the morning. I was at the gate at 5:30," she said. "I said, 'Wow, that's really great.'"
She said the TSA screeners were all very pleasant.
"You know, at the back of their minds, they think about not getting paid. But they were smiling, cordial and putting on a happy face. It seemed they hadn't missed a beat," she said. "I've been on longer lines."
She thanked them for showing up.
Her flight back from Las Vegas was no different, with no significant wait to get through security. Still, she said the shutdown is having an impact on people.
"They're actually held hostage by this nonsense," she said.
Read more about how the shutdown is affecting flying
The TSA send reinforcements to Newark Liberty
Amid shutdown, screeners are treated to lunch at this NJ airport
Travelers face uncertainty at the airport
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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