	Background

		TSA Processes for Allocating TSOs across Airports

TSA allocates TSOs to airports using its Resource Allocation Plan, which  is intended to provide each airport with the optimum number of TSOs  needed to screen passengers for threats to aviation security, such as  prohibited and other potentially dangerous items. TSA Processes for Collecting Wait Time and Throughput Data at Airports

At each airport, TSA is to collect throughput data on the number of  passengers screened under both expedited and standard screening and  monitor passenger wait times at screening checkpoints. TSA Uses Passenger Wait Time and Throughput Data to Monitor Airport Operations on a Daily Basis

In February 2018, we reported that TSA collects passenger wait time and  throughput data and uses those data to monitor daily operations at  airports. TSA’s Operations Directive (directive), Reporting Customer  Throughput and Wait Times, provides instructions for collecting and  reporting wait time and passenger throughput data for TSA screening  lanes. In May 2016, TSA established the Airport Operations  Center partly in response to the long screening checkpoint lines in the  spring of 2016 at certain airports. The center conducts near real time  monitoring of the operations of 28 airports that, according to TSA  headquarters officials, represent the majority of passenger throughput  nationwide or are operationally significant. In addition, TSA  officials at airports are required to report to the center when an event  occurs—such as equipment malfunctions, weather-related events, or  unusually high passenger throughput—that affects airport screening  operations and results in wait times that are greater than TSA’s standards  of 30 minutes in standard screening lanes or greater than 15 minutes in  expedited screening lanes. Our analysis showed that TSA met its wait time standard of  less than 30 minutes in standard screening at the 28 airports 99.3 percent  of the time for the period of January 2015 through May 2017. TSA Airport Officials Reported Using a Variety of Tools to Respond to Increases in Passenger Wait Times and Throughput

In February 2018, we reported that FSDs and their staff at the airports we  visited identified a variety of tools that they utilize to respond to increases  in passenger wait times and/or throughput. Key contributors for the previous report  that this testimony is based on are listed in the product.
Why GAO Did This Study

TSA employs about 43,000 Transportation Security Officers (TSO) who screen over 2 million passengers and their property each day at airports in the United States. TSA allocates TSOs to airports using both a computer-based staffing model and information from airports intended to provide each airport with the optimum number of TSOs. In the spring of 2016, long screening checkpoint lines at certain U.S. airports raised questions about TSA's process for allocating TSOs to airports. This testimony addresses (1) how TSA monitors wait times and throughput, and (2) tools TSA uses to respond to increases in passenger wait times. This testimony is based on a report GAO issued in February, 2018: GAO, Aviation Security: TSA Uses Current Assumptions and Airport-Specific Data for Its Staffing Process and Monitors Passenger Wait Times Using Daily Operations Data . GAO-18-236 , Washington, D.C.: February 1, 2018. For that report, among other things, GAO analyzed TSA documentation and passenger wait time and throughput data.

What GAO Found

In February 2018, GAO reported that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) uses data to monitor passenger wait times and throughput, the number of passengers that are screened at each airport checkpoint, on a daily basis and responds to increases. For example, TSA's Airport Operations Center (AOC) monitors daily wait times and passenger throughput from 28 airports that TSA officials say represent the majority of passenger throughput nationwide or are operationally significant. Furthermore, TSA officials at airports are required to report to the AOC when an event occurs--such as equipment malfunctions--that affects airport screening operations and results in wait times that are greater than 30 minutes in standard screening lanes. For its February 2018 report, GAO analyzed wait time data for the AOC-monitored airports for the period of January 2015 through May 2017 and found that TSA's reported wait times met its standard of less than 30 minutes in standard screening 99 percent of the time. Within that time frame, two airports accounted for the longest wait times in the spring of 2016. TSA officials also identified several tools, such as passenger screening canines, that they reported using to respond to increases in passenger wait times at these airports.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is not making any recommendations.