TSA hiring at New York state airports ahead of summer travel season

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Summer is here and so are the suitcases packed for far-away adventures. And the Transportation Security Administration is projecting the busiest summer ever.

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional launching pad of the summer travel season. TSA set records that weekend, including the busiest day in TSA’s 22-year history, when more than 2.95 million people were screened at airport security checkpoints nationwide on Friday, May 24.  

More jetsetters mean longer TSA lines, and it wants you to help. The federal agency is hiring. It expects to hit the 3 million single-day traveler mark sometime this summer, which is something that has never happened.

To us, they are the men and women who check our IDs, and bags, and give the occasional pat down.

“They can be a little challenging sometimes,” Josh Bado, TSA officer at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, said.

Bado has been keeping air travelers safe for three years.

“It’s not always just busy or it’s not always this slow,” Bado said. “Throughout the day we kind of rotate around different positions to kind of make the job a little bit more interesting as we go.”

There’s the ‘TDC,’ where ID’s are checked. Then the ‘DO,’ where you take your bags and put them into the bins before being scanned. Then the ‘IT,’ which is the body scanner and the x-ray machine, then the search if necessary.

“Learning that training and learning how to read the X-ray images is the definitely the most difficult part, and then identifying what things are, and knowing what’s not a problem or what actually could be a problem,” Bado explained.

The process is a lengthy one, one that Bado says six months to a year. Training takes place at the airport and also at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia.

“As to the grossest thing I’ve ever seen, I don’t I know. I’d rather not say,” Bado said. “There was a doctor who had come through. He had an artificial brain in his bag, and it had some liquid in it,” Bado recalled.

Liquids, gels, and aerosols must be under 3.4 ounces if they’re in your carry-on bag for the airplane.

“I’ll have peanut people bring in like peanut butter,” Bado recalled. “They’ll be like,’It’s just peanut butter,’ but you know, that can’t go on.” 

New technology that is currently being rolled out at airports could keep the expected longer lines moving quickly. Credential authentication technology, or CAT units, at checkpoints, confirm the validity of your ID and flight information in real time.

“If you want to opt out of having your photo taken, that’s fine too,” Lisa Farbstein, strategic communications and public affairs for the Transportation Security Administration said. “You just say to the officer that you don’t want the photo taken. And what they’re going to do, is this going to verify the way that they do that previously and that’s my hand.”

As cliché as it is, TSA reminds you to pack your patience and add extra time to your itinerary for longer lines.

“It’s going to take a little bit more time to find an available parking spot,” Farbstein said. “You’re going to see that the check-in counters are a little more crowded with more people. And that’s all before you even get to the checkpoints.”

But then you’re off to sunnier skies.

If you have any questions regarding what items are allowed or prohibited, the TSA website, or app, is an excellent resource. If you’re interested in joining TSA, you can find more information here.