TSA braces for 1 million holiday travelers

More than 1 million travelers are expected to pass through a new configuration of security screening checkpoints at Denver International Airport from Dec. 19 through Jan. 1, Transportation Security Administration officials said Thursday.

TSA supervisors also are anticipating a surge of items in baggage that agents will have to confiscate. They displayed a cache of seized items including a cane containing a two-foot sword from last weekend, fireworks, pepper spray, activated stun guns and carefully wrapped holiday gifts, which often contain material requiring secondary inspection. TSA agents typically un-wrap 15 to 30 Christmas gifts a day during the holiday travel period, a volume that hasn’t changed much over the past two decades, TSA’s lead airport officer Charles Morgan said.

“Sometimes it is shocking what we see. We try not to judge. People make mistakes,” Morgan said. “We just take it in, shake it off, and move on to the next person.”

TSA’s projected number of travelers falls short of a record but their hundreds of employees are bracing for possible turbulence as travelers face the re-worked checkpoints.

The airport A Bridge has been closed. Travelers accustomed to passing through security screening there need to use the South Security Checkpoint – open the longest from 3 a.m. through 1 a.m. – or one of two newer checkpoints.

The South TSA Pre-Check Checkpoint on the east side of DIA’s Level 5 is open from 4 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. and can typically moves TSA passengers through in less than 10 minutes, TSA spokeswoman Lori Deckers said.

DIA’s newest West Security Checkpoint (4 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.), with 17 lanes, opened in February and uses a facial recognition system for more careful screening of backgrounds. On Thursday, for example, an agent blocked a traveler who was wanted on a criminal warrant, leading to a call to Denver Police, checkpoint supervisor Craig Thompson said.