As Stewart Soars, Schumer Reveals TSA Still Won't Send The Airport The Screeners And Security Equipment It Needs

Press Release

As Stewart Soars, Schumer Reveals TSA Still Won't Send The Airport The Screeners And Security Equipment It Needs

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today revealed that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) still refuses to send Stewart Airport the passenger screeners and baggage scanning equipment it needs to prevent growing security lines from crippling the airport. Schumer said passenger traffic could more than triple over the next year thanks to surging growth from new JetBlue and AirTran service. Right now, the airport still must screen checked baggage manually and does not have a single high-volume bag screening machine. Because of a shortage of screeners and equipment, airport officials are concerned that screening personnel levels will not be enough to accommodate the new the flights. "TSA still doesn't get it - they are skimping on screeners and state-of-the-art baggage equipment for Stewart," Schumer said. "Stewart Airport is on the rise, but if the TSA doesn't send the personnel and equipment it needs to efficiently process passengers, Stewart's wings may just get clipped. The federal government should support the airport, not hold it back. I have been proud to lead the fight to put Stewart on a path for growth and will hold TSA's feet to the fire until this situation is resolved." Schumer today revealed that the airport doesn't even have an automatic baggage screening system in place, forcing every piece of checked luggage to be screened by hand. Using hand-held explosive trace detectors (ETD), screeners can process, at most, only 31 bags per hour. However, during peak hours these days at Stewart, Schumer said that several hundred bags will move through screening. This labor-intensive process requires the airport to shift workers from passenger screening to bag screening duties. As a result, Stewart airport frequently only has the resources to operate one passenger line.

"Given its growth, TSA should provide Stewart with cutting-edge baggage machines, not leave it stuck in the dark-ages manually searching bags and causing unnecessary waits. It is absurd and unacceptable that this can be done quicker and safer, and yet TSA has failed to act," said Schumer. Schumer said that Stewart airport must have the proper technology to make this process as quick and efficient as possible. Airport officials have determined that a set of machines able to screen 600 bags an hour would best suit their needs. These machines would not only expedite the screening of baggage, but would free Transportation Security Officers (TSO's) to perform other functions in the airport, like screening additional passengers. Schumer said that TSA has a remarkably poor track record in keeping pace with Stewart's steady growth. In January, when Stewart officials requested that the number of full-time equivalent TSOs be increased from 30 to 52, the TSA actually cut their staffing to 24 TSOs. This decision was reversed soon after and Stewart's allocation was raised to 35.3 after Schumer personally lobbied TSA Administrator Kip Hawley. Unfortunately, this level of staffing still falls far short of Stewart's needs. Factoring in days off, vacation time and sick leave, Stewart officials report that they only have 30 TSOs on duty during any given week. This personnel allocation has caused delays during peak morning hours and has forced the airport to restrict airlines from allowing flights to take off after 7:30 pm in the evening.

This troublingly low level of service has persisted despite remarkable growth in passengers flying into and out of the airport. Over 190,000 boarded planes departing from Stewart in the first three months of this year, up from 52,000 in 2006. By years end, the airport expects to emplane between 475,000-525,000 people, 3 times more than the 154,000 air travelers who boarded airplanes at Stewart in 2006. The total number of people using the airport is expected to increase from 310,000 last year to 900,000 this year. This growth is poised to continue. Delta recently announced new service at Stewart Airport that will commence in May of this year and existing carriers are looking to expand their service. The lack of adequate personnel has become so acute that during the busy morning hours, the line for passenger screening is literally out the door. Airports in the region with comparable passenger volume to Stewart have TSO levels that far exceed theirs.

In his letter to Administrator Hawley, Schumer wrote, "With an increased number of travelers, new service and already dreadfully long lines, the TSA must act to place at least 52 full-time equivalent TSOs at the airport as soon as possible." In just the last few months, Stewart has welcomed brand new service from two national low-cost carriers. On December 19, JetBlue began the first roundtrip flights to Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando, and on January 5 expanded to two round trips, plus one round trip to West Palm Beach. In October, AirTran announced its new service will provide two daily roundtrips to Atlanta, which is AirTran's hub, and one daily around trip each to Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa.

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