Long security lines slow passengers at Seattle SEATTLE (AP) =97 Two weekends of lengthy security screening lines for=20 passengers leaving Seattle-Tacoma International Airport have frayed=20 tempers, caused some missed flights and led the airport to plead for more=20 federal screeners. "That line is ridiculous," said Janna Christensen, 19,=20 of Redmond, who missed a flight to Missoula, Mont., on Monday. "I was here= =20 in plenty of time. They have to get this situation fixed." Sea-Tac=20 officials have asked the federal Transportation Security Administration,=20 which handles airport security screening, to deploy a mobile screening=20 force to Seattle to augment the regular TSA staff, airport spokesman Bob=20 Parker said. "I can't think of anyplace in the country that needs it more=20 badly than us," Parker said, describing the recent long lines as=20 "gridlock." The waits reached 90 minutes for travelers during the busy=20 early morning hours Monday and from about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Parker said.=20 The long lines abated later in the day. The airport screened about 56,000 departing passengers Sunday, and an=20 estimated 50,000 Monday, Parker said. That's comparable to levels before=20 the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, "which is very good for the=20 industry. "Our mission to get people where they're going and it really=20 pains us when they don't get where they're supposed to," he said. TSA is looking at hiring some part-time screeners in the next several weeks= =20 to alleviate the Sea-Tac crush, TSA spokeswoman Suzanne Luber said Monday,= =20 adding that would be a better option than a mobile screening force. "This=20 is obviously something very concerning to us," she said. "We want to=20 resolve it as quickly as possible." Another TSA spokesman, Brian Turmail,=20 told The Seattle Times that unexpected waves of cruise ship passengers were= =20 part of the problem. "One day recently, we had 100 buses from cruise ship=20 lines arrive at the exact same time," Turmail said. "We need to work with=20 the cruise ship lines and the airlines to see if they can space out the=20 times when their passengers arrive." That didn't fly with Parker. "We were gridlocked today, and we had no=20 cruise-ship passengers," he told The Times. "We were gridlocked Sunday=20 before the first cruise-ship passengers arrived," Parker added. "This is=20 not a cruise-ship problem. It's a staffing problem." The TSA staffing level= =20 in Seattle is 1,040, with 1,035 currently employed, but just under 1,000=20 screeners are available for shifts, with some on military leave, others=20 training new screeners and some on disability leave, she said. Shelley=20 Kinney, 24, of Bellingham, was headed to Los Angeles on Monday. "There's no= =20 reason it should take this long," she said. "It's summertime, you know=20 there's going to be a lot of people traveling." Luber said the No. 1 reason= =20 for the crunch is a summertime travel increase =97 she understands from=20 airlines that air travel is up 25 percent over the same period last year.=20 On Monday morning in particular, summer travelers combine with business=20 travelers to create a greater crunch. Denver has been experiencing a similar problem, she said. The TSA announced= =20 in May that it would cut 6,000 passenger and baggage screeners from its=20 55,600-person work force by October because of budget constraints. Members= =20 of Congress, mostly Republican, limited funds for screeners because of=20 concerns the agency grew too big too fast. The first round of 3,000 job=20 cuts was completed late last month. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported= =20 Tuesday that the cuts reduced TSA's authorized work force at Sea-Tac from=20 1,250 to 1,050, but Luber said those cuts were not an issue in Seattle.=20 Horizon, Alaska and United Airlines each delayed some flights for 10 to 25= =20 minutes to give passengers a chance to reach the gates, airline spokesmen=20 said. But delaying flights too much can throw airline schedules off= elsewhere. Alaska Airlines, which averages 150 daily departures from Sea-Tac, saw some= =20 flights depart without all their passengers, said Jack Walsh, an airline=20 spokesman. "The TSA has told us they recognize there is a staffing problem= =20 and we anxiously look forward to them resolving that problem," Walsh said=20 Monday. The airport has spent $25,000 in overtime for Port of Seattle=20 police over the past two weekends to free up more of the federal employees= =20 to actually screen passengers, Parker said. He continued to advise=20 travelers to reach the airport two hours in advance of their flights. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************