The new security checkpoint at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport's Terminal 3 will get its first major test this week, as more than 25,000 travelers are expected to pass through in the coming week, a big jump from last year.
And after a rocky opening to the $23 million screening area earlier this month, local federal security officials say they're ready for the annual travel rush, which could be bigger than last year.
"I'm not going to go out on a limb and say everything will be sweetness and light, but I feel that we're about 90 percent there when it comes to learning the new layout and changing things as we go to make it more efficient," said Paul Wisniewski, the federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration's CVG operation. "This has been a non-event for the last three years, and I don't see any reason to expect any different this year."
Wisniewski said that he expects more than 16,000 passengers to pass through the checkpoint between Monday and Wednesday, including 6,400 on the day before Thanksgiving. There could be as many as 8,000 on Sunday alone, with those visiting Cincinnati for the holiday making their way back home.
He said peak wait times could reach 30 minutes, but unless something breaks down, they shouldn't be any longer than that. This year, there is one more security lane in Terminal 3 than before, allowing the TSA to process as many as 1,800 travelers an hour through the checkpoint that now sits on the ticketing level instead of downstairs.
From the Wall Street Journal, on a story of citizenship:
A naturalization test at an immigration office in Boston was the last hurdle standing between me and U.S. citizenship. But for me this journey had actually begun years before, on a rickety vessel you may have heard of-The Mayflower. Except in my adaptation, that leaky ship sailed down the Red Sea to the New World of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where I proudly played the role of a pilgrim in a kindergarten play at the American school. Decked out in a gray frock and a hat fashioned from black construction paper, I prepared to welcome a band of friendly Native Americans to the very first Thanksgiving.
In my five-year-old mind, it seemed perfectly logical that a scrawny Indian girl with brown skin and a Canadian passport should be charged with inviting those other Indians (feather, not dot-although I'm Muslim so we don't have either) to celebrate the founding spirit of America. In a desert nation, no less, thousands of miles from Plymouth Colony.
"Sarah, is it?" asked the immigration official testing me. "So, where are you from?"
Easy question, no easy answer.
Leadership Events
Secretary Napolitano and Minister Van Loan will participate in a media availability
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Press Room
Ronald Reagan Building
Washington, D.C.