McCarran Airport to Get 30 Percent More TSA Screeners

July 28, 2005
Adding 247 more checkpoint personnel will bring the number of Transportation Security Administration screeners at the nation's sixth-busiest airport to 1,079.

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- McCarran International Airport will get a nearly 30 percent increase in federal security screeners, officials said.

Adding 247 more checkpoint personnel will bring the number of Transportation Security Administration screeners at the nation's sixth-busiest airport to 1,079. The agency did not say when the additional screeners would be on the job.

TSA spokeswoman Jennifer Peppin said the additional screeners will come from a reallocation of the agency's more than 45,000 screeners around the nation.

Elaine Sanchez, a McCarran airport spokeswoman, said the new screeners should help relieve lengthy security lines.

Members of Nevada's congressional delegation had complained the airport was short of screeners based on passenger volume. The airport handled nearly 41.5 million passengers in 2004.