Congressman Crow, Colorado Delegation Urge TSA to Work with DEN to Improve Security Wait Times

AURORA — Congressman Jason Crow (CO-06) joined Colorado US Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and Representatives Diana DeGette, Ken Buck, Joe Neguse, Brittany Pettersen, and Yadira Caraveo in calling on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to improve wait times for passengers at Denver International Airport (DEN) – the country’s third busiest airport and the region’s largest economic driver. 

DEN passenger traffic continues to grow, with a record 78 million passengers expected this year. However, a lack of transparency into TSA’s staffing formula has limited the airport’s responsiveness to this increased volume of travelers. Colorado lawmakers are requesting clear steps from TSA to help meet the demand. 

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote: 

“We write to request that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) take all appropriate steps to fully deploy resources at Denver International Airport (DEN) in response to the unprecedented increase in travelers the airport has experienced this past year.”

“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. In fact, TSA has allocated fewer roles for DEN than it did in 2019, when passenger volume was lower,” continued the lawmakers. “Understanding TSA's resource allocation would allow DEN to develop its own standards for passenger traffic forecasting and operations management, especially as the airport experiences seasonal, weekly, and daily fluctuations in visitors.”

Congressman Crow continues efforts to address Coloradans’ airport issues and strengthen federal oversight over the aviation industry. This Congress, Crow advanced key provisions in the FY24 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act, requiring the agency’s action on airport noise. After Crow’s repeated urging, Centennial Airport recently announced changes to help protect the health and safety of flight path communities suffering from high-decibel aircraft noise above. 

A PDF of the letter can be found here, with text appearing below: 

October 23, 2023 

The Honorable David P. Pekoske 

Administrator 

Transportation Security Administration 

601 12th St S, Arlington, VA 20598 

Dear Administrator Pekoske: 

We write to request that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) take all appropriate steps to fully deploy resources at Denver International Airport (DEN) in response to the unprecedented increase in travelers the airport has experienced this past year. 

DEN is the third busiest airport in the United States. It is the region’s largest economic engine and generates over $36 billion annually. 

In recent months, DEN’s passenger traffic has grown at an extraordinary pace. In June alone, 6.7 million passengers traveled through DEN. The airport expects to welcome a record total 78 million passengers this year – five million more than originally expected. 

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. In fact, TSA has allocated fewer roles for DEN than it did in 2019, when passenger volume was lower.

To that end, we urge you to provide DEN with transparency into TSA’s resource allocation, and the model that underpins it. Understanding TSA's resource allocation would allow DEN to develop its own standards for passenger traffic forecasting and operations management, especially as the airport experiences seasonal, weekly, and daily fluctuations in visitors.

We are pleased to hear that a meeting is scheduled to discuss these issues. We hope that this will give TSA more insight into the extreme uptick in passenger traffic at DEN and provide meaningful steps to address it. 

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. We welcome the opportunity to continue working with TSA to better serve Coloradans and all visitors to our state.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to discussing this issue further with you and members of your team. 

Sincerely,