Irate CLT passengers keep griping about TSA lines. What’s behind all the delays?

Waiting in long security lines at Charlotte’s airport is becoming an increasingly frustrating experience for passengers as the summer travel season grinds on in the midst of what airport officials expect will be record crowds.

Passengers took to social media recently to gripe about going through long lines at checkpoints for the Transportation Security Administration at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

One user on X (formerly Twitter) took a picture showing crowded lines of people at the airport waiting to drop off their tagged bags before the TSA line. “Holy Cow, the check-in process at CLT is so bad,” he wrote. “You have to get here like three hours early I guess.”

“Just a disaster this morning,” another user said on X recently. “Not enough daily parking shuttles. One TSA checkpoint shut down. Two lanes handling all TSA (40 minute wait). Nobody directing people, nobody checking PreCheck before they get in line. Charlotte could be so much better.”

But officials from the TSA and CLT said longer than usual security lines is something passengers should expect this summer travel season, which is expected to be the busiest yet for Charlotte’s airport. And with the Fourth of July holiday coming up, traffic is not going to slowdown anytime soon.

Why the long wait at CLT?

Before Memorial Day weekend, CLT leaders said they were expecting to break summer travel records. They also warned passengers to be prepared for long lines.

Charlotte Douglas is the seventh-busiest airport in the world, according to the Airport Council International’s preliminary rankings for 2022.

American Airlines accounts for about 90% of all flights at the airport. CLT is the second-largest hub for the Fort Worth, Texas-based company.

The airline is expecting to serve more than 8 million passengers in Charlotte between May 17 and Sept. 3 with 75,000 flights. Compared with last summer, this is a 12% increase and will surpass pre-pandemic levels of flying, according to American.

American Airlines added new kiosks at CLT to speed up the ticketing process. A second bag drop to help with foot traffic during peak periods was also added.

At CLT anything over 35,000 passengers is a busy day, while anything over 40,000 is “very busy” and 45,000 is “extremely busy,” according to Daniel Velez, TSA spokesman for North Carolina.

TSA’s standard is to get people through a line in about 30 minutes or less, according to Velez. Although complaints were made about people waiting for hours, the longest wait times in the past week has been less than 50 minutes, he added.

Velez said upset passengers are probably adding the time it takes to check in with airlines and drop off luggage. “I think they’re kind of putting all that together and coming up with times,” he said.

The actual times that people spent in lines did not exceed 46 minutes around mid-June.

“Now that’s still above our standard of 30 minutes. So, you know I can understand people’s frustrations. But to say that they’ve been (in line) for hours, that’s not true.”

Charlotte’s TSA had a couple of days exceeding 45 minutes this month because of flight delays, according to Velez.

TSA screened 37,418 people on June 11, with wait times ranging from 38 to 46 minutes. There were four delayed flights from the previous day.

June 13 was TSA’s fourth busiest day at CLT this year, with 44,374 people screened. The standard wait time around 9 a.m. was 45 minutes because of flight delays.

“You have all those people who are supposed to fly the day before trying to check in and go through security screening along with people who are regularly scheduled for that specific day,” Velez said. “So that can cause some of the problems.”

Equipment malfunctions can close lanes and cause delays too, Velez said. “Our equipment is just like any other equipment in the world,” he said. “It can easily break and it’s going to need some maintenance.”

Construction work at the airport with restricted spaces is probably confusing passengers, Velez added.

“Sometimes people get in the wrong line,” he said. “And they’re waiting in line for a while and then they realize they’re in the wrong line.”

A spokesman for Charlotte Douglas International Airport declined to comment about the latest airport security delays, and referred questions to the TSA.

Other delays at Charlotte Douglas

CLT is no stranger to delay issues.

Last year, the Thanksgiving and Christmas weekends weren’t too kind to travelers at Charlotte Douglas because of vehicle traffic delays near the terminal.

Traffic improvements were made between the holidays at the airport. Some of the changes included communicating with the public on social media; partnering with the North Carolina and Charlotte Transportation Departments for real-time traffic updates; putting airport staff members and police in places to better facilitate vehicle traffic and foot traffic; changing traffic signals; and rerouting shuttle buses.

Prepare to deal with the lines at CLT

Airport officials are encouraging passengers to add extra time to their schedules to avoid traffic, while looking at road conditions.

Passengers should arrive at the terminal at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight, officials said.

“A lot of times people get to the airport, like really late — maybe like 30 to 40 minutes before the plane takes off,” Velez said. “Not a good idea.”

CLT is also asking customers to book parking in advance online at parkCLT.com. Estimated wait times for security checkpoints are available on the airport’s website and through the app. On Friday, June 21, two of the four standard checkpoints were closed. A CLT spokesperson said one was closed for construction. Wait times were between 10 to 44 minutes that day, according to the website.

“All that time adds up so I can understand people’s frustrations,” Velez said.

If airports in the country are having more passengers than expected, TSA will shift officers over into security screening lanes that actually need more help, Velez said.

TSA is also encouraging passengers to sign up for TSA PreCheck, a program that allows U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to have an expedited screening. There is no need to remove shoes, laptops, liquids, belts and light jackets through this process, according to the website.

The standard PreCheck is about 10 minutes or less. “And we did that all last week,” Velez said, referring to the week of June 10.

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