Avoid Long Queues With the TSA App
No one wants to wait in the hourly line for security, but it’s always possible – now more than ever. One waiting time app will help save you from the crowd.
Almost a month after the closure of the US government, federal workers across the country bear the brunt of the unpaid work. Others, under extreme financial stress , are forced to quit their jobs in the hope of finding another job.
The Transportation Security Administration reported a 55% increase in the number of employees causing illness compared to the same period last year. And this shortage of staff leads to inevitable long security lines for travelers.
Travelers departing from Hartsfield-Jason Atlanta International Airport were recently warned to have at least three hours before departure due to long security lines. Miami International Airport temporarily closed the entire terminal due to a shortage of TSA staff, effectively displacing passengers into the remaining available terminals.
Afraid of missing an upcoming flight while the blackout is in effect? Check out TSA’s own MyTSA app .
Available as a free download on the iTunes App Store and Google Play , MyTSA allows you to locate an airport and find information that will affect your flight, such as potential delays, weather conditions and queuing times.
While latency information is collected by the FAA, latency is actually crowdsourced and collected by the native users of an app like Waze on air travel.
If there is no information about current waiting times, or you are planning your trip ahead of time, TSA also uses previous data to make educated guesses about how long the safety line might take at any given time and date. If you would like to help other passengers, you can report the waiting time yourself in the application dashboard.
Any other travel related questions? You can even contact TSA directly through the app’s messaging service.
If you want to be aware of any delays, be sure to also download your departing airline’s app. Usually, these apps allow you to check for important status updates or gate changes.
Better yet, if you are in the middle seat, you can take a look at the updated map of your flight seats in the app; Airlines may upgrade some passengers closer to take-off, allowing you to board and take a much-needed window seat.