Minneapolis airport officials irked by TSA checkpoint closure
Airport officials at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have blasted the Transportation Security Administration for closing down a security screening checkpoint at the airport.
The TSA closed the checkpoint at the walkway between Terminal 1 and the InterContinental Hotel.
The agency cited low passenger numbers at the checkpoint which is not widely known about and used mostly by hotel guests.
MSP officials called for meeting with the TSA to discuss the issue but the agency went ahead and closed the checkpoint as previously planned on November 18 before any discussions could take place.
That has riled Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC).
"The meeting has not occurred, yet the TSA closed the checkpoint anyway," said airports commission CEO Brian Ryks.
"We have spent tens of millions of dollars on security infrastructure, and worked hand-in-hand with the TSA and airlines to continually improve screening operations. Today, I am sad to say, the TSA has not held up its end of the bargain."
The row comes just days before the TSA expects to handle a record number of Thanksgiving holiday travelers.
Ryks is full of praise for the work TSA officers do at the Twin Cities airport but is less than complementary about ‘decision makers in Washington DC.’
"What we are asking of the TSA is the same thing we’ve been asking for months now: that they properly staff MSP’s checkpoints – and that includes the hotel checkpoint," Ryks added.
Graves Hospitality, which manages the InterContinental Hotel, told the Star Tribune the closure of the checkpoint next to the hotel has caused ‘confusion’ and inconvenience for hotel guests.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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