Is TSA Security the Weakest Link In Traveler Safety During Coronavirus?

Since writing the original article, a third TSA agent has fallen victim to COVID-19.  On Monday the TSA released a statement acknowledging that a Miami TSA Supervisor died. On April 9th, the TSA announced that Alberto Camacho, a branch manager for the federal agency’s Acquisition Program Management office, died on April 3.

TSA Maintains Updated Map of Infected Agents and Airports

You used to be able to go the TSA’s website and pull up their TSA agents with confirmed cases map which had been regularly updated . The map displayed affected airports where TSA agents have been confirmed as having been infected with the COVID-19. That map is no longer displayed.

Here’s what the map used to look like:

TSA Map from April 9, 2020 (No Longer Maintained by the Agency)

Click to Enlarge Map

Now, the TSA maintains an information page of the COVID19 impact to travel and the agency.

TSA Employees and Screening Contractors COVID-19

*Last Work Date is date of most recent screening officer confirmed case

According to the TSA’s latest release of COVID-19 related statistics:

The TSA no longer provides individual data for infections, so we can no longer see exactly how many cases have been confirmed (or where) in the past 14 days.

Some Disturbing Data

Unfortunately, these are the top five airports that have reported the most cases

JFK – John F. Kennedy International                                         95

EWR – Newark Liberty International                                        48

LGA – LaGuardia                                                                              28

MSY – Louis Armstrong New Orleans International            27

MIA – Miami International                                                            18

That’s a huge jump from just what was reported a few days ago! When I penned the original article, on April 9th, here were the top three airports with reported cases in the previous 14 days:

New York City’s JFK Airport (JFK) – 10 Confirmed Cases
Denver International Airport (DEN) – 6 Confirmed Cases
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (MSY) – 5 Confirmed Cases

RELATED POST: These airports fit into the latest Coronavirus Hotspots list.

The Latest HotSpot Airports

Here are the most recent airports with TSA Agents reporting confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past 14 days:

MIA – Miami International
LGA – LaGuardia
SEA – Seattle/Tacoma International
IAD – Washington Dulles International
JFK – John F. Kennedy International
MSY – Louis Armstrong New Orleans International
RSW – Southwest Florida International
BDL – Bradley International
EWR – Newark Liberty International
BOS – Logan International
GRI – Central Nebraska Regional
DFW – Dallas/Fort Worth International
PHL – Philadelphia International
SRQ – Sarasota Bradenton International Airport
DEN – Denver International
TPA – Tampa International
IND – Indianapolis International

Are the TSA Security Lines A Traveler’s Weakest Link for Coronavirus Safety?

Although the numbers of passengers passing through airports are down dramatically, everyone has to pass through some form of a TSA security checkpoint. More passengers pass by a TSA checkpoint in a single day than probably come in contact with a flight attendant. We know there are hundreds of flight attendants, and even pilots, who have been confirmed as having the coronavirus.

Should we be concerned? I think this goes to our biggest fear of the current pandemic, we simply cannot see the disease. That’s why air travel at this point is ill-advised.

Of course, any infected agent could pass the virus on to any number of persons traveling to any number of destinations after leaving the checkpoint. That’s a design for disaster.

Will Domestic Air Travel Be Shutdown?

With the airlines now lining up for bailouts, the prospect of grounded domestic air travel fades away with each passing day. The airlines will have to keep flights and maintain some levels of staffing to receive government funds from the CARES Act. This signals that they will continue to operate, even if at some dramatically lower levels than a month ago.

We know that airports have been shutdown at times to deal with an infected staff member or air traffic controller.

The Upshot

Passengers need to be screened. There’s no way to avoid that right now.  Travelers have many points of contact where they could contract the COVID-19 virus. The TSA security checkpoint line stands out as a single point where so many passengers interact.  In the post-coronavirus future, perhaps there are less touchpoints.  See – Biometric Screening Technology: Touchless Check-In, Security, and Boarding

What’s your take on the TSA as the potential weakest link due to the Coronavirus?

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