Colorado Congressional Delegation Members Send Letter to TSA Calling For Improved Wait Times at Denver Airport

    Oct. 26, 2023
    Most of Colorado’s congressional delegation members on Monday signed a letter sent to the Transportation Security Administration calling for improved wait times at Denver International Airport.

    By Jacob Factor

    Source The Denver Post(TNS)

    Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images/TNS
    Airline passengers wait at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint to clear security before boarding to flights in the airport terminal in Denver on April 19, 2022.
    Airline passengers wait at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint to clear security before boarding to flights in the airport terminal in Denver on April 19, 2022.

    DENVER — Most of Colorado’s congressional delegation members on Monday signed a letter sent to the Transportation Security Administration calling for improved wait times at Denver International Airport.

    The third busiest airport in the U.S., DIA is expected to see record numbers of passengers by the end of this year, and security lines at the airport have increasingly had some problems with that growth.

    U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette, Ken Buck, Joe Neguse, Jason Crow, Brittany Pettersen and Yadira Caraveo joined Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper in signing the letter urging TSA to make staffing changes to meet DIA’s rapid growth.

    Reps. Doug Lamborn and Lauren Boebert, both Republicans, did not sign the letter; neither of their districts includes parts of Metro Denver.

    “At the moment, DEN does not have the necessary TSA roles to meet this demand, which has resulted in longer than expected wait times for security lines,” the letter states. “In fact, TSA has allocated fewer roles for DEN than it did in 2019, when passenger volume was lower.

    The letter asks TSA to “fully deploy resources” at the airport and to provide transparency in how the agency allocates resources so DIA can develop its own standards for operations management.

    The letter states a meeting is scheduled to discuss these matters, and the signees hope TSA will provide insight and meaningful steps to address the increase in traffic.

    “We are grateful for the successful partnership that DEN and TSA have built over the past several years, and we applaud TSA’s efforts to help DEN to open its new state-of-the-art West passenger screening security checkpoint in February,” the letter states. “We welcome the opportunity to continue working with TSA to better serve Coloradans and all visitors to our state.”

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