CBS Austin: Congressman Doggett steps in to help challenges ABIA is facing
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Bergstrom International Airport is calling on federal officials to help ease challenges that are causing passengers to have negative experiences.
To offer some much-needed assistance, Congressman Lloyd Doggett is stepping in to try and expedite the process. He tells CBS Austin what’s taking place at the airport is unacceptable. And with business expected not to slow down any time soon, he says action needs to be taken to support the growing demand at the airport.
“Having people stretched out all up and down the area where you access the airport, having people miss their flights. We just cannot allow that kind of situation to continue,” Congressman Doggett said.
Letters obtained by CBS Austin revealed that the director and CEO of the airport, Jaqueline Yaft, made a request to TSA nearly a month ago asking for more staff at TSA checkpoints and customs. As of this web story, Yaft is still waiting for a response.
The CEO wrote the airport has been dealing with unprecedented growth while trying to work with limited staff which has caused negative impacts on customers.
To provide a solution, Congressman Lloyd Doggett reached out to TSA himself, asking them to respond to the airport's request for more officers and equipment. He feels doing so would allow operations to flow smoothly and keep travelers happy and on time.
“Our airport is really a gateway to the city for visitors from around the world. In order to maintain our status as an international city, world-class city. People need to be able to get in and out of that airport in a reasonable way,” said Doggett.
When asked what will happen if conditions continue? Doggett said he thinks it will cause more people to travel on midweek days when there's a little less travel versus a Monday morning.
“But we just got to find a way to solve this problem and I want to approach it in a collaborative way,” he said.
The airport says current conditions put them at risk of losing flights and pose safety and security concerns. CBS Austin reached out to TSA to see where they stand with approving the request.
They sent a statement saying:
The administrator will respond directly to CEO . At this time no media response will be provided in regard to their correspondence.
The airport also released a statement:
AUS is grateful for the support of Congressman Doggett and continues to partner with local TSA leadership on the shared goal of providing an exceptional passenger experience for all our travelers. We look forward to further coordination with federal TSA and CBP leadership.
Congressman Doggett says he would also like to see more agents at the border and customs for international travelers. As for when he expects to hear back? He says he really couldn't give a time frame because to be fair, he just sent out his request this week.
“I think our needs in Austin are special and we need a response to them,” said the Congressman.
The airport just launched a new passenger travel tips page that also includes FAQs that speak to the long TSA wait times and how busy the airport is. They hope this can be a resource for passengers to learn more about the current TSA situation.