Tsa Increasing Agents at Chicago O'hare Airport

THANKS FOR WATCHING MIDMORNING THIS WEDNESDAY. WITH MORE PEOPLE FLYING AND FEWER TSA AGENTS, LONG LINES AND MISSED FLIGHTS HAVE BEEN COMMON THE LAST FEW WEEKS. HELP IS ON THE WAY TODAY FOR CHICAGO'S VERY BUSY O'HARE AIRPORT. AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU DON'T LIVE IN CHICAGO WHEN YOU SEE THIS MESS AT O'HARE, MIDWAY? TSA IS SENDING 5 TEAMS. AND INCREASING OVERTIME THERE. AT A CERTAIN POINT, YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS AND SAY, LIKE, DID TSA PURPOSELY LET THIS GET SO BAD SO CONGRESS WOULD ACTUALLY ACT AND GIVE THEM SOME MONEY? BECAUSE THEY HAVE HAD, AS YOU NOTED, KYLIE, THEY HAVE HAD FUNDING CUT. THERE'S BEEN A 10% DECREASE IN TSA AGENTS, WHILE THERE HAS BEEN A 15% INCREASE IN PEOPLE THAT ARE TRAVELING. ALI, YOU TOOK A LOOK AT KIND OF WHAT THIS MEANS SPHAIRS THE NUMBER OF -- AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF TSA AGENTS, COMPARED TO THE NUMBER FLYING, RIGHT? YEAH. IT'S PRETTY STAGGERING. THERE WILL BE 740 MILLION TRAVELERS THIS YEAR. AND THE NUMBER OF TSA AGENTS IS 42,500. THAT'S ABOUT ONE TSA AGENT FOR ROUGHLY EVERY 10,000 FLYERS. THINK ABOUT IT. THAT WOULD BE LIKE FOUR PEOPLE CHECKING IN THE PEOPLE GOING INTO TARGET FIELD. IMAGINE TELLING PEOPLE TO SHOW UP IN CHICAGO THREE HOURS EARLY. THREE HOURS. I'M IMAGINING WHAT THIS WOULD BE LIKE IN MY OWN LIFE. TRYING TO KEEP A 1-YEAR-OLD HAPPY FOR THREE HOURS BEFORE YOU GET ON THE PLANE. THEN YOU HAVE TO KEEP THEM HAPPY ON -- IT'S JUST NOT POSSIBLE. I MEAN, THIS IS GOING TO PEDE OUT AIR TRAVEL FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE WITH FAMILIES. PART OF WHAT SLOWS THINGS DOWN, OF COURSE IS THE DEGREE OF SCREENING YOU GO THROUGH. AND I HAVE MY OWN THOUGHTS ON WHETHER ALL OF THIS IS NECESSARY, FRANKLY. WELL, YOU CAN PAY TO AVOID SOME OF IT. YOU CAN. YOU CAN ENROLL IN PRECHECK. THEN KEEP YOUR SHOES ON AND YOUR BELT ON AND WHATEVER. I DID THAT, ACTUALLY, A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. AND THE PROCESS -- THEY CHARGE YOU $85, I BELIEVE, FOR FIVE YEARS. OKAY. AND YOU HAVE TO GO AND SIT DOWN WITH SOMEONE. THEY TAKE YOUR FINGERPRINTS. THEY DO AN IDENTITY KIND OF BACKGROUND CHECK. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S REASONABLE. IS THIS WHERE WE WANT TO BE AS A COUNTRY? WE WANTED TO HAVE EVERY PERSON WHO WANTS TO FLY GET FINGERPRINTED AND MEET WITH AN AGENT? THEY WANT MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO SIGN UP FOR THAT TSA PRECHECK. SO I THINK IT'S HEADING IN THAT DIRECTION. I ALSO THINK THIS IF BECOMES AS MUCH OF A PROBLEM RAZZ IT IS OR EVEN WORSE. WE CAN SEE AIRLINES SAYING, WE CAN DO OUR OWN PRIVATE SCREENING. LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENED. THIS IS HOW RELIANT WE ARE ON THE TSA AND THEIR OPERATIONS. THERE'S A COMPUTER ISSUE FOR THE TSA, PHOENIX, SKY HARBOR AIRPORT. SO LOOK. HERE'S EVERYBODY'S BAGGAGE. IT'S WAITING TO GET SCREENED UNTIL THEY GET EVERYTHING ALL SORTED OUT. IT WAS LIKE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE MISSED THEIR FLIGHTS. OUT ON THE TARMAC? THIS IS THE AGENCY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THIS. IT'S AMAZING TO SEE WHAT WILL HAPPEN.