The next time you pass through security at Sarasota-Bradenton International or Tampa International, take a look at the officer checking your boarding pass. There’s no chair behind them anymore. According to a union branch of the American Federation of Government Employees, the TSA is removing all chairs from boarding pass and ID checkpoints, meaning those officers now stand for their entire shifts.
The union says the chairs offered real physical support during long stretches of repetitive work, and it calls the change a violation of safety and common decency. The policy arrives nearly two months after David Cummins became TSA administrator, making it one of the early workplace shifts under his leadership.
For Suncoast travelers, this lands right as season ramps up, when airports here fill with snowbirds, spring training fans, and families flying out of SRQ. If standing-only shifts wear down the frontline officers who keep lines moving, travelers may eventually notice longer waits and lower morale at the checkpoint. The union’s position is simple: standing all day isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s a fairness question. So what do you think, should a job that involves checking IDs all day come with a place to sit?
