Ben Mutzabaugh

USA TODAY

The Transportation Security Administration finds itself under increasing criticism for its airport staffing levels as the busy spring travel season begins to shift into high gear.

Already, Atlanta’s airport – the busiest in the world – publicly called out the agency last month for persistently long lines that it blamed primarily on staffing levels.

Now, some of the nation’s other top airports are joining the fray.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport became one of the latest. The airport warned fliers on Wednesday via Twitter they should “expect longer wait times” because TSA “staffing (is) not keeping pace (with) passenger volumes.” Seattle added a hashtag saying “#PackYourPatience.”

Atlanta airport to TSA: Shape up or ship out

And it was just last week that officials at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (MSP) publicly aired their frustrations about growing security queues there.

Jeffrey Hamiel, CEO of the agency that operates MSP, fired off a letter to TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger decrying the TSA’s staffing. In his letter, Hamiel said passenger volume at MSP has jumped more than 10% since 2011 while the number of TSA screeners nationwide had dropped about 15% over that period.

"Those diverging trend lines — increasing passenger levels and declining numbers of federal screeners — are a recipe for unacceptable customer service. We have reached that point at MSP," Hamiel wrote in the March 3 letter to Neffenger, according to The Associated Press.

Hamiel says security checkpoint wait times of up to 40 minutes have become common at MSP.

Minneapolis-St. Paul airport seeks shorter security lines

TSA braces for spring-break travel surge

Chicago O’Hare also has seen a spike in checkpoint wait times, with some airlines going so far as to post advisories on their websites warning Chicago fliers to arrive to the airport earlier than normal.

"We are doing the best we can with the resources that we have," TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers told AP in response to the complaints from MSP.

However, AP notes the TSA may have its hands tied when it comes to addressing staffing levels. The news agency writes “Congress has capped the number of uniformed screeners for budgetary reasons: About 42,800 screeners nationwide now, compared with a peak of about 50,000 a few years ago, (Dankers) said.”

Against that backdrop, the TSA has began conducting more thorough inspections “of people and carry-on luggage since last summer's revelation of startling security gaps at U.S. airports,” AP writes.

Airlines expect record numbers for spring travel

Both Neffenger and Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson have acknowledged the creep in average wait times in testimony to Congress. But, for now, only a modest increase in TSA staffing appears likely for the forseeable future.

"Eventually, we will reach capacity, and in some places we already exceed capacity during peak travel periods," Neffenger acknowledged in testimony to Congress on March 1.

Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president for legislative and regulatory policy at Airlines for America, urged TSA to reduce wait-times in the short term through better staffing assignments during peak travel times and additional canine teams.

"We need to make sure they’re going to the right spaces," Pinkerton told USA TODAY. "We urge TSA to focus on short-term wins to try to make sure that we keep those wait-times reasonable."

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