London - Travellers passing through airports in the United States this summer are being told to build in plenty of extra time because of delays at security check-points that are already causing thousands of flyers to miss their planes every week.
Frustration all around the country is close to boiling point as screeners hired by the federal Transportation Safety Agency, TSA, struggle to keep up with surging numbers of passengers. At least one major airport, in Phoenix, Arizona, is threatening to throw the TSA out and hire private screeners instead.
With a few weeks still to go before the start of the summer peak season, irritated travellers are already taking to social media to share horror stories of getting stuck sometimes for hours in the security line. Airports that seem particularly prone to the jams are in New York, Detroit, Atlanta and Chicago.
About 450 American Airlines passengers failed to make their flights at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on Sunday night alone, forcing airline staff to produce camp beds for them to sleep in inside the terminal.
The Independent