The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) usually has a pretty good idea of when any or all U.S. airports will be particularly crowded. Thanksgiving and the Christmas holiday weeks are, historically, the biggest times. So the TSA always warns travelers ahead of time to give themselves extra time to get through the security checkpoint because, whether you’re on the PreCheck or regular queue, with or without CLEAR, there will be significantly more people to process.
However, another reason for slowdowns involving the TSA can happen when the government agency may be more concerned about security threats than usual. That could mean anything from checking ID more carefully to going through uncommon security processes. (My husband experienced the latter, years ago, when they made him remove his shoes in the PreCheck line).
Right now is apparently one of those times.
The Washington Post is reporting that the Washington D.C. airports appear to have all ramped up their TSA presence at airline gates this week.
“The enhanced screenings come as Washington prepares for several high-profile events, including former president Jimmy Carter’s state funeral Thursday and President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20,” WaPo reported.
On top of those two big events, the recent attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, as well as the anniversary of the January 6th attack on the US Capitol, have also heightened the agency’s alert level.
“We are in a heightened period of security related to recent incidents and we’re going into another period where we have high national security events,” the agency said in a statement.
What’s happening?
Obviously, it’s the TSA, so they never explain the who, what, why, where, when and how of what they’re doing. But anecdotally, they’re participating in a variety of extra security measures at the gates of Reagan National, Dulles International and BWI airports, including:
- extra ID checks (checking ID against boarding passes for each person on a flight)
- pat downs
- luggage searches
- being “swabbed”
- bomb-sniffing dogs
- TSA officers asking the name of every passenger before they board some planes
“Nothing is more important to TSA than ensuring the security of our nation’s transportation systems and keeping the traveling public safe,” the TSA statement said. “TSA’s multiple layers of security are both seen and unseen to keep threats at bay and our transportation systems secure.”
Plan accordingly, travel friends!
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