Sea-Tac wait times now average 10 to 15 minutes
Jun 11, 2016, 9:36 AM
There’s now live string music to soothe the nerves outside a TSA checkpoint at Sea-Tac Airport.
But, after weeks of long lines, it’s hardly needed.
“It’s almost nothing compared to what I saw before. It was so bad last time,” said Leanne Clare, who spent an hour in line in February and arrived Friday to see short lines.
Sea-Tac Airport Director Lance Lyttle said wait times now average 10 to 15 minutes.
In the Memorial Day rush, they never topped 22 minutes.
Earlier this spring, the airport said lines were averaging 45 to 60 minutes.
The TSA sent more screeners to seven busy airports, but not Sea-Tac.
In Seattle, Lyttle said TSA is spending more on overtime during peak periods.
Ninety contractors hired by the airport are directing passengers, allowing TSA to open two or three more lanes.
Lines to the podiums where ID’s are checked are now more efficiently configured.
There are new bins to throw out drinks sooner in the security line, a small step that can save time.
Most critical, Sea-Tac now has five TSA bomb-sniffing dogs, and will soon get two more.
“When we have the K-9 units here, effectively every line becomes a PreCheck line,” Lyttle said.
Passengers can keep their shoes on and their laptops in bags when they’re pre-screened for explosives.
Sea-Tac is also looking at ways to have passengers load up their bins before they get in line for X-rays, a system that should allow people with less stuff move through quicker.
But there isn’t much empty space to work with, so that could be a challenge.
The airport is also developing a system to measure and report wait times to passengers through an app and messages on monitors.
No launch date for the wait time system has been announced.
