Wait times at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks may as well be minuscule compared to locations like Chicago, New York, and Minneapolis.
The average wait time during peak travel times in the morning and early evening are less than 30 minutes at Bradley, according to the Executive Director of the Connecticut Airport Authority, Kevin Dillon.
“When you consider what’s happening around the country at other airports, in some cases, 90 minute wait times, we feel pretty good about our 30 minute wait time here at Bradley" Dillon said. "But that’s something we’re going to monitor and continue to protect as go forward.”
Dillon says he has staff dedicated to tracking wait times all hours of the day. The airport handles about 16,000 passengers every day and they expect an additional thousand each day of the upcoming holiday weekend.
TSA checkpoints nationwide have been plagued by long wait times in recent months. The reasoning is a combination of record travel numbers, and agent staffing levels.
Bradley is an airport, Dillon fears, that could have TSA agents pulled in order to fill gaps at Boston's Logan, New York's LaGuardia and JFK airports.
Even with existing staffing, Dillon says he needs more people working at the security checkpoint to keep people moving through smoothly. Without help from TSA, DIllon says he's going to dedicate personnel to getting customers through security.
“We’ve told the TSA that we’re prepared to have some of our staff pick up some of their non-certified positions to even try to enhance that 30 minute wait time.”
