Airport securityTSA’s head of security dismissed against backdrop of long waits at security lines

Published 24 May 2016

Kelley Hoggan, TSA’s head of security, dismissed after a contentious Hill hearing on long airport security lines. Travelers in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport complained of two-hour waits. Questions raised about $90,000 in bonuses and awards given to Hogan.

Kelly Hoggan, the head of security for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been removed from his position, the House of Representatives Oversight Committee said Monday in a Twitter post.

CNN reports that the House panel, which held a hearing 12 May on long lines at airport security checkpoints, offered no reason for Hoggan’s dismissal from his position as the agency’s assistant administrator for security operations.

The TSA also came under criticism by committee members who questions why Hogan was awarded more than $90,000 in bonuses and awards during a 13-month period. Questions were also raised about how the award was paid – in installments of $10,000.

At the 12 May hearing the TSA administrator, Peter Neffenger, attributed the long lines to the thousands of employees the administration lost in 2014 that they have yet to replace.

When I came into this organization last year, I found an organization with 5,800 fewer screeners and it had fewer front-line officers than it had four years previously,” Neffenger said. “And that was in the face of significantly higher traffic volume.”