As much as travelers complain about TSA security, most passengers make it through with relatively little hassle and in time to make their planes. On the other hand, “most” isn’t that comforting when you’re the exception, which happened to a friend last week at San Jose Airport.
The gentleman in question is a very-regular traveler. He was flying with his wife from San Jose via Los Angeles to Washington-Dulles, checked in on-time for a 10:36 a.m. flight, and was in line for security at 9:30 a.m.
Here’s his email from that point:
We were within 5 minutes of getting through when there was some kind of security breach and TSA + SJ police shut down security and stopped letting people through. (Apparently there were even security dogs involved in finding somebody who got through without being completely screened, but they never told us what was happening.)
Everything stopped for about 45 minutes. TSA pulled aside people who were on flights coming soon, including us, so they could expedite us once they reopened.
They reopened security at about 10:20 and we were through in 5 minutes. I have to say that TSA does an amazing job and really did efficient work to screen people once they reopened.
So far sounds like they dodged a bullet. He, his wife, and some other travelers on the United Express flight got to the gate at 10:25 a.m., 11 minutes in advance, to find the gate unmanned. Five minutes later a United agent appeared and told them the flight was closed. Although the plane was still at the gate.
Apparently opening the door was not an option. The plane left 3 minutes early, with passengers at the counter pleading their cases.
As my friend related the story, he and others he had talked to in line during the security hold, had worried a bit about making their connections, because everyone was sure the airlines would hold the planes until security re-opened. At least for United, this was not the case.
To add insult to injury, the United agent started out by saying, “Sorry, nothing is available to D.C. until tomorrow. Fortunately, as a frequent traveler my friend knew United’s route structure and was finally able to convince her to rebook them through Denver so that they ended up arriving the same day.
Another option might have been a nonstop out of San Francisco (30 miles away) to Dulles later that afternoon or overnight, although that never came up. Another passenger, booked through to Brazil with United, was told they would have to wait overnight.
Now from both my and his perspective, stuff does happen. But one would think the gate agents in the terminal had to know that security had been shut down. (The story didn’t make the nightly news, so I don’t know if other airlines held their planes.)
Who was at fault here?
If my friend’s story is true, being at the gate 11 minutes in advance should be before boarding is cut off, although I have seen other flights shut the door at 15 minutes out, instead of the announced 10.
In addition, TSA probably should have, and may have, alerted carriers to the problem. To be fair, they may not have known how long the delay would last.
But how difficult would it have been to advise each carrier once the problem was over? San Jose also is not that big an airport. Moreover, if anything, TSA at San Jose seems overstaffed on a regular basis. (A flight attendant I know refers to them as “Thousands Standing Around.”)
Airline staffing, however, seems to be an increasing problem when anything out of the ordinary happens, especially in smaller airports. And the much touted do-it-yourself kiosks are pretty powerless in those cases.
So is there any advice out of this story, other than being as nicely persistent as possible when an agent tells you there is no way to get to your destination?
My sense, unfortunately, is that the more airlines cut back, the more human staffing will be reduced in favor of automation. Since on-time departures are a priority, this means potentially more and more missed flights and connections as rushed agents focus on getting planes out.
So if it’s a really important event you’re planning to attend, the best protection, which covers a multitude of potential airline issues, may just be to fly a day early.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
