New checkpoint at MSP opens with long lines, wrinkles to iron out

The opening of a new $17 million checkpoint at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Tuesday came with a few hiccups, and that, combined with more passengers than usual trying to get through screening after the long holiday weekend, led to slightly longer wait times. During the early morning crush, lines spilled out of the queuing area and into the lobby.

"The queue is still a work in progress," said Cliff Van Leuven, federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration in Minnesota. "It's like any move into a new office. It takes a while to get up to speed and get bugs sorted out. There is a learning period."

But once the 10-lane security screening area on the north end of the terminal is operating at full capacity, the process should flow more smoothly and will be a "dramatic improvement," Van Leuven said. Tuesday's opening was the first step in consolidating several checkpoints into two larger ones.

Just four of the 10 lanes were operating Tuesday morning after TSA employees worked through the night to move scanners and X-ray machines from the former Checkpoint 2 into place. The equipment was plugged in shortly before the first passenger went through the brightly lit and spacious area at 3:03 a.m.

Additional lanes will be phased in throughout the week, with all 10 lanes expected to be up and running by Friday. By then, TSA officials hope to figure out how to arrange the queues to maximize efficiency and direct passengers into the proper TSA pre-check and regular lines.

During the peak crush early Tuesday, lines on the north end stretched out halfway across Terminal 1's main lobby. Lines at the six-lane checkpoint on the terminal's south end also were jammed, creating anxious moments for passengers, said Kate Arends, who was on her way to Dallas.

"The lines were almost crisscrossing," said Arends, who needed 15 minutes to get through the TSA pre-check line on the north end. Normally it takes her less than 5. "Some passengers were running to catch their flights. There were a lot of people in a bad mood."

By noon, lines were almost nonexistent and passengers were getting through "in about a minute and a half," Van Leuven said.

Van Leuven didn't say how much additional time passengers needed to pass through security Tuesday morning, but was confident things will be much better once wrinkles are ironed out. Extra staff was to be on duty to handle Tuesday afternoon's rush and impart lessons learned on opening morning to officers coming on shift. The arrangement was new to the 650 TSA officers who work at MSP.

"We want to be effective and efficient, but we are a security business," he said. "We need to find the bad guys. This is a work in progress."

In the near future, passengers arriving at the airport will be able to determine which checkpoint — north or south — they want to use by checking large digital signs detailing wait times on either end of Terminal 1.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768