ROCHESTER, N.Y. — With long lines, disrupted flights and stressed-out fliers, the headaches seem to worsen for those planning to fly amid a deadly plane crash at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday and the ongoing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) funding crisis.
“Extremely unfortunate to hear about it and to see it in the media,” Frederick Douglas Greater Rochester International Airport director Andy Moore said. “But I just want to assure the public that we are prepared for these types of things.”
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for all planes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City following a deadly crash Sunday evening between a fire truck and a plane, which killed two pilots and left dozens injured.
“I want to extend my sympathies to the families of the two pilots,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said. “These were two young men, at the start of their career. So it’s an absolute tragedy. But we are committed to a full, transparent investigation.”
Meanwhile, the TSA has continued to work without pay as negotiations in Washington remain at a standstill. And while many airports upstate New York are not feeling much of a direct impact, it is impacting major hub airports outside of upstate that many New Yorkers are flying to and from. Leading to some delays and cancellations in those cities.
“Delta’s the only airline that flies to LaGuardia out of Rochester,” Moore said. “And so far we’ve had two departures canceled.”
“I’ve been a frequent traveler for, gosh, 35 years now,” Carlson said. “And Rochester Airport is a great onramp into the network of the airport system. And so again, another thing is to travel midday. That’s a wonderful thing. The 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. mornings can be busy.”
Amid the TSA frenzy, the Trump administration is pushing to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the nation’s airports if an agreement is not reached to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Many upstate airports say they will not have ICE agents involved in operations. But busier locations like JFK and Newark will.
“If their role is limited to TSA substitution and not bringing in any additional enforcement,” Carlson said. “It’s a way of using government workers in a way that’s constructive, as long as there aren’t additional police actions that occur that have been their history.”
And as the TSA backups continue, Rochester International Airport is one of 20 facilities across the country that in a unique situation. And it’s helping them avoid some of the headaches at this time.
“Rochester is very fortunate to be a part of the TSA Screening Partnership Program,” Moore said. “We’re one of the original five airports in the country to join in on that. We’ve been doing so ever since. So we’ve never had federal security screeners here in Rochester. It’s always been a private security company, contracted through TSA. Certainly, as spring break starts to roll in come Thursday, Thursday will be an extremely busy day. But our longest wait time was 12 minutes.”
As a reminder, if you are traveling to cities where they are seeing large backups with TSA, make sure you are prepared and arrive early to those airports when you are coming back home. And always keep an eye on the status of your flights on your airport’s website.