DATE: May 21, 2021
TO: All Personnel: LGA, HPN, ISP, SWF
FROM: Robert A. Duffy, Federal Security Director: LGA, HPN, ISP, SWF
SUBJECT: Weekly Update
This week began with a visit to LGA by our Acting Administrator, Darby LaJoye. While the visit was short, Acting Administrator LaJoye was able to meet with PANYNJ General Manager at LGA, the American Airlines station manager, and LGP leadership. We took the Acting Administrator on a tour of Terminal B and ended with a town hall meeting which included questions and answers as well as recognition of TSI Raquel Carrera, TSI Yani Echevarria and FIO Mike Mullane for length of service awards. Acting Administrator LaJoye enjoyed his visit to LGA and was impressed by our officer’s professionalism and teamwork.
As you have likely seen at LGA this week, our parking at the Terminal C garage will end at midnight Sunday night, May 23. All TSA personnel who have been parking in the Terminal C garage will need to park in the Terminal B garage and take the LGA shuttle bus to C and D. This is due to the increased passenger volume, fewer parking spaces in the C garage than in the B garage and more passengers opting to drive to LGA than take mass transit or a for hire vehicle due to concerns over COVID-19. The CC sent out notifications this week to include where to pick up the shuttle from the B garage. On Monday, May 24, the proximity cards will no longer work at the C garage. While this is an inconvenience, it is better than having to park in the P 10 lot.
As we prepare for the approaching summer peak season, I want to inform you of our plan this year. We are hiring 78 new officers over the next three pay periods. Pay Period 11 – 8 officers, Pay Period 12 – 40 officers, Pay Period 13 – 30 officers. We have placed our Part-Time officers back to 5 hour days and they can have their shifts extended as needed. We have 33,000 hours of overtime available from now through the end of this fiscal year. We will have a new shift bid at LGA next week which will go into effect the week of July 18. This will correct some staffing shortfalls from the original shift bid earlier this spring and set up our LGA checkpoints and bag rooms to be better staffed to meet the operational needs. Between now and July 18, we are moving some people around and we had a reduction in our ATLAS hours which affords us the ability to place more officers at the checkpoints. We will also continue to use officers from ISP and HPN at LGA, with SWF officers backfilling HPN. Thank you to the officers from HPN, ISP and SWF for your support and teamwork. We don’t expect the passenger volume at our airports to be at 2019 levels, but we are seeing passenger volumes increase, airline schedules increase and the size of aircraft being increased. This all adds up to a busier summer. HPN has seen the quickest recovery of our four airports followed by ISP. Since LGA is primarily a business traveler’s airport, LGA has been slow to recover.
Since we will see more people at all of our airports this summer, please remember to maintain your professional demeanor with the passengers and each other. Treat others the way you want to be treated. The summer always brings out more people who do not fly often. They don’t always know where to go, what they can bring onboard with them, why we need to pat them down, etc. Please be the voice of reason and the presence of calm and composure when some passengers are losing their composure or temper out of frustration. Help each other out. If you see a teammate taking heat from a passenger, disengage your teammate and intervene on their behalf. No passenger is worth getting in trouble. If you think of a comment to a disrespectful passenger will make you feel good as the words roll off your tongue, it is probably best not to make the comment at all. Work together as a team and take care of each other and we will be fine. I learned this week from the PANYNJ that their customer service ratings for LGA and SWF were very good overall and relative to us, so keep up the great effort.
To our leaders, the LTSOs, STSOs, and TSMs, look out for the well-being of your officers. Provide them with all that they need to be set up for success in carrying out the TSA mission every day. Don’t be afraid to use a good idea. Trust your instincts as a leader. Pay attention to detail. Know your people. Put the team first and to everyone, do your job to the best of your ability. Everyone is depending on you. Care about each other. When you care about each other, you build trust. Trust is the foundation of all positive, winning relationships. Relationships are what build winning teams.
Over the past two years, we have overcome the government shutdown, the pandemic, the subway closure in NYC, months of rioting, reduced staffing and the opening of a new terminal at LGA. There is nothing we can’t do when we work together.
Thank you all for your continued hard work, dedication and focus on the mission every day.
Respectfully,
Bob Duffy
