An Airport in Turmoil

In case you missed it or haven’t had the privilege of checking in at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP), there is a challenge there! 

I was there almost a year ago and I was thinking it was a fluke; the TSA process can’t ALWAYS be this bad.  I was in line for 30 minutes with pre-check.  I am hearing that 40 minutes is standard and that it’s not uncommon to have it be an hour wait during peak travel times!  I would lose my patience if that was something I had to do once a month, once a week would make me lose my mind. 

Today, I hear that help is on the way; Senator Amy Klobuchar is stepping in to help address the problems in MSP. 

So, while this is a challenge for the travelers that got into and out of the MSP, what scares me is that a member of the Senate needs to step in to fix it!  Does that mean that the airport authority in Minneapolis has no power?  Maybe TSA can’t figure out that they need to have additional resources?  Does this mean that no one is monitoring this stuff?  Look at Yelp, Trip Advisor or the local news and you can see the travelers have been upset for a long time, but not until a Senator steps in, will something be done about it?  That’s crazy to me! 

If my wait time at Starbucks is more than company standards, I get an apology from the barista.  If my hold time is more than 4 minutes when I am on hold with the bank, I get an apology message and am assured that someone will be with me soon.  Starbucks and the bank are monitoring that stuff, but you mean to tell me until Klobuchar stepped in, that the TSA advisors for MSP were not doing anything about it? 

I feel for the travelers that have to endure the MSP situation.  I am happy that the issues are being addressed, but I do worry about a system that cannot fix itself without the government stepping in to force action.  I hope eventually, travelers in MSP will be able to keep going, without monstrous delays.