Travelers Frustrated After Longer-Than-Normal Security Checkpoint Lines At Airport

Long security lines at the Tulsa International Airport caused many people to miss their flights Monday.

Three of the lanes were closed because the body scanners were broken, so the lines wrapped around the hallways outside the security area.

People got frustrated earlier because the process was so hectic, but there was nothing they could do but watch the time tick by as they slowly made their way through the line.

Some people waited as long as three hours to get through security, and that caused them to miss their flights out of Tulsa

Bradford Morrison from the Twin Cities already had his flight canceled Sunday night because of maintenance problems, so he was coming back Monday to try again, and then this happened.

“When I did get here, there were probably 600 to 800 people in line,” said Morrison. “Took three hours to get through the line. We at one point had a child collapse and had to get an ambulance to get him out. There were some fights over people trying to jump the line.”

Since security lines here aren’t usually long, a lot of people don’t show up the recommended two hours early.

“When I came yesterday, I didn’t foresee any problem because there were eight people,” said Morrison. “I’m used to going a lot longer than that. The system was down completely, so even though I have TSA pre-clearance, they couldn’t get it on my ticket.”

Antonio Torres didn’t miss his flight because he got to the airport six hours early but he says you never expect to see something like this.

“It’s hard to plan for a day like this, honestly, because how often are you going to have like two-plus hour wait at an airport, especially like at Tulsa, which is not a huge airport,” said Torres. “You go to LAX or SFO, and sometimes you get through within an hour, and you’re already at your gate or even less."

Some people got mad, but others decided to take it in stride.

“Some things are just out of your control; you just have to roll with the punches,” said Morrison. “It doesn’t do any good to get mad. I am frustrated, but you just live and move on.”

TSA says some parts to fix the scanners have arrived and others have been ordered, but they do plan to open security 30 minutes early Tuesday at 3:15 a.m. instead of 3:45 a.m. to hopefully get everyone through in time.