HOUSTON – Speaking in Houston, Tuesday, TSA administrator Peter Neffenger apologized for long lines at security checkpoints at Chicago O’Hare airport Monday.
He said the TSA immediately sent a team to find out what happened and additional help the airport.
"I don't know what that was. We're fixing that. That was of great concern to me,” said Neffenger speaking to an air travel industry conference at the George R. Brown Convention center. Neffenger said, "I always tell people I won't apologize for doing our job well. But I do apologize to the people who found themselves stranded in Chicago yesterday."
Passengers report seeing longer security lines at big airports across the country as summer vacations near.
The administrator said the answer to moving people faster could be changing a decades’ old checkpoint system. He said that could include electronically connecting bags to passengers.
Neffenger told the crowd, "It's as simple as having an automatic conveyor belt and having automatic bin return systems. And then multiple stations at which people can stand.”