Atlantic City NJ TSA Security Lines

[shoes99]

Does Atlantic City NJ ACY have a separate security line for passengers with medical devices. My sister will be wearing her feeding tube pump thru security for our early 8AM flight on Airtran from ACY to MCO at the end of June 2009.

 

[only1alexa]

Airtran doesn't fly out of ACY, Spirit does. Last time I was there (about a year ago) they do not have a seperate security line. They only have a handful (less than that actually) and I've never seen much of a line when I've been there. I usually go in early morning and return in the evening and have never seen or experienced more than a 10 minute (give or take a few) wait to get through security.
Hope your sister has a safe and happy trip.

 

[rflorek]

Airtran doesn't fly out of ACY, Spirit does.

Actually, they both fly out of AC now. Service begins June 11 according to the AirTran website.

 

[shoes99]

Actually, they both fly out of AC now. Service begins June 11 according to the AirTran website.

I have confirmed flights and seats for their new inaugural service starting in June 2009 for ACY to MCO. I grabbed the $59 seats on the only non-stop from ACY to MCO on AirTran. I have flown Spirit with DH, but Sis has medical devices, and when we flew out of EWR some TSA screeners were not so kind to her. I told her a smaller airport will be better for us. She just has to ask for a hand scan, and not go thru the metal detector.
Looking forward to the new competition between Spirit and AirTran out of ACY.

 

[CarolA]

I have confirmed flights and seats for their new inaugural service starting in June 2009 for ACY to MCO. I grabbed the $59 seats on the only non-stop from ACY to MCO on AirTran. I have flown Spirit with DH, but Sis has medical devices, and when we flew out of EWR some TSA screeners were not so kind to her. I told her a smaller airport will be better for us. She just has to ask for a hand scan, and not go thru the metal detector.
Looking forward to the new competition between Spirit and AirTran out of ACY.

Really, smaller airports are nicer?

My experience is the EXACT opposite. Smaller airports seem to be where the TSA agents have LOTS of time to work on thier jerk skills. It was a "medium" size airport where the jerk told a grandmother "If you wanted to XXXX you could get out of that chair and walk" Gee, yeah, Grandma wanted to be trapped in a wheelchair and was just doing it to annoy the TSA

At large airports they are often brusque, but they get the job done and don't have time to play 'lets make up rules and be jerks just because we got a uniform'

So my suggestion be nice, but if they try to refuse you what you need or are rude just nicely say "please get your supervisor" and then tell him/her what you need. Remember they did NOT get the right to abuse you or to question your medical needs! While they don't seem to realize it, the rules do apply to them!

And if they cross a line... your elected officals should know. They fund this useless agency!

 

[shoes99]

Thanks CarolA.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Actually, they both fly out of AC now. Service begins June 11 according to the AirTran website.

Checking calendar... nope - still May... post # 2 is correct - while AirTran will fly out of Atlantic City, they currently do not

 

[CleveRocks]

ACY has been my home airport for the last 11 years, and I've used the airport frequently over the past 14 years. [I've also had PHL and CLE as home airports and still frequently use PHL ... I point this out to demonstrate that I have experiences beyond just ACY.]

In my experience, I've never seen overly officious or authoritarian TSA agents there. As much as government employees in their position can be expected to be, the TSA employees at ACY have, to my observation, done their jobs decently. They don't hand out milk and cookies, but they also don't throw around their power for no other reason than to give you a hard time.

Again, this has been my own experience there over the years.

 

[CleveRocks]

Does Atlantic City NJ ACY have a separate security line for passengers with medical devices. My sister will be wearing her feeding tube pump thru security for our early 8AM flight on Airtran from ACY to MCO at the end of June 2009.

I don't have a definite answer, just some facts and then a guess.

It's a small airport. There is a single line where a TSA agent checks your IDs and boarding passes. After that, you are told to get into one of several lines for the conveyor belts/x-ray machines and metal detectors.

My guess is that it's too small an airport to be able to staff a dedicated line only for travelers with medical devices ... there just can't be that much demand for it there, as opposed to a major airport that has thousands of flight departures per day.

My only advice is advice that you surely already know: get there early, gird yourself with patience and low expectations, and you might then be pleasantly surprised.