DIA, TSA At Odds Over Who's To Blame For Massive Security Lines
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver International Airport and the Transportation Security Administration are pointing fingers -- each blaming the other for painfully long security wait times at the airport on Tuesday as some travelers were in line for up to three hours.
Flooding in Missouri has prompted evacuations around St. Louis after record rainfall in the past several days. It's part of a storm that has caused problems across the nation for holiday travel that included a mess at DIA overnight into Tuesday.
There were long lines at DIA in a record breaking period of holiday travel. Passengers flying out of the airport in the early morning hours Tuesday waited more than 90 minutes to get through security. As the day progressed the lines got longer.
DIA said the problem stemmed from a TSA staffing issue. The TSA told CBS4 they need lead times to have adequate staff to get the passengers through security. They said they didn't have enough lead time Tuesday morning which caused the backup because only one checkpoint was open. They couldn't provide CBS4 the reason why they didn't get the adequate lead time to provide the additional staffing.
DIA said they provided additional staff to help manage the backup.
"It's a lot longer than we thought it would be, especially on a Tuesday. You'd think for Monday for business flights there might be more travel, but by Tuesday you would think it would have died down a little bit," traveler Chris Zimmer said.
RELATED: DIA Tries To Keep Travelers Calm As Long Security Waits Continue
Passengers flying in to DIA waited well over an hour or more for their bags.
"It's ridiculous, because you know, it's a simple task. Just unload the stuff, put it on the belt," traveler Demetrius Flood said. "But yet they fail to have the people coming here. They know the planes are coming in at this time, so why can't they have the people staffed and ready for you?"
DIA was expecting more than 162,000 passengers on Tuesday, which is about 20,000 more than usual. It's recommended to get there three hours early for flights. According to airport officials, they are expecting big crowds for at least two more weeks.
