TSA to make checkpoint changes at Pittsburgh International Airport

The TSA is making checkpoint changes at Pittsburgh International Airport after lengthy security lines caused long waits, missed flights and travel chaos.

Beginning July 8, from 4 to 7 a.m. weekdays, the airport’s alternate security checkpoint gates will be dedicated exclusively to travelers enrolled in TSA PreCheck. PreCheck lanes at the main checkpoint will not be open during that period.

“The surge in passenger volume at Pittsburgh International Airport in the early hours of the morning has started to exceed the capacity of the security checkpoints,” TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said in a news release Thursday. “Travel volume has increased tremendously during the past several months, and the change is an effort to improve checkpoint efficiency and streamline passenger flow.”

TSA PreCheck enrollment starts at $77.95 for a five-year membership.

Ashley Headly has worked at Buford’s, an airport bar next to the security entrance, for the past 11 years. She said the lines over the past week have been longer than she’s seen in previous years.

“It’s been busy as heck,” Headly said Thursday morning.

As part of the checkpoint changes, after 7 a.m., when peak travel periods are over, a PreCheck lane will open at the main security checkpoint and remain open through 8 p.m. Depending on passenger volume, TSA said, the alternate checkpoint may reopen during the day on an as-needed basis to serve both PreCheck and standard travelers.

Pittsburgh International Airport expects to open its new terminal in 2025. It is designed to provide faster service at TSA checkpoints.

Headly said she typically sees people come into the airport in waves. She said the beginning of this week was more crowded than usual. One of her customers earlier in the week had a flight leaving in 40 minutes. The TSA line stretched way past the roped-off area, so Headly brought her to the alternative checkpoint to help her pass through security more quickly.

“Monday, people were mad,” Headly said of the people stuck in the long lines.

TSA has been advising passengers to arrive at the airport two to three hours before their boarding time.

On Thursday morning, Phyllis Sigal of Wheeling arrived two hours early but was not worried about making it through security. She waited calmly on a couch at the entrance of the airport with no rush to head to the TSA line.

Unlike Sigal, other travelers arriving at the airport about 7:30 a.m. Thursday anticipated slow-moving lines and large crowds. But the lines moved quickly.

Paul Austin of Shadyside said he arrived two hours before his flight to Chicago. He said he had been reading about the long lines and would not have arrived that early if it hadn’t been for TSA recommendations.

Another passenger, Morgan Guarino of the South Hills, had a similar experience.

She arrived at the airport at 7:30 a.m. for an Allegiant Air flight to Florida scheduled to take off at noon. To her surprise, when she arrived, the information desk told her the airline could not check her in until closer to flight time.

“I did what I was told,” Guarino said about her early arrival.

She got word to her travel companions, who are all going to a bachelorette party, that they could arrive at the airport closer to the flight time.

“I’m not mad about being here early,” she said, but she did wonder what would happen if the lines got longer closer to her flight.

Online, Pittsburgh International Airport has a tracker to show how long the expected TSA wait is. From 7:30 a.m. until 9 a.m. Thursday, the lines moved at the listed pace and people were able to pass through in about three minutes.

At 8:20 a.m., the line for TSA PreCheck consisted of only one person.

The number of people standing in line picked up about 9 a.m., but passengers continued to pass through security within the website’s listed wait time, which was roughly 12 to 14 minutes.

Whitney White, assistant operations manager of Clear, said Thursday that the lines from 3:45 a.m. to 7 a.m. were a lot longer. Clear machines allow people to check in digitally and bypass long security lines to get to screening more quickly. Clear membership costs $189 a year.

“It was all the way back to the walkway,” White said of the Thursday morning line.

TSA anticipates that Friday will be the peak travel day.

“I’m just glad we’re flying today and not tomorrow,” Sigal said.