is moving into phases that will add two new checkpoints with much greater capacity — the first is set to open by early 2024 — it must make do, for now, with its three existing cramped screening spaces.
But Renteria said Thursday that the concern is fading, with DIA shuttle contractor ABM Parking Services’ driver shortage now down to about 10. That’s a big improvement from its 45-driver shortage last fall, which kept DIA from reopening the Pikes Peak shuttle lot for months. “We have officers from the national staffing corps who are here,” she said, but it could be in a position to wind down the arrangement soon. “We are thinking that by Thanksgiving, we’ll have enough local officers that we won’t need to keep them on site.”
“We’re getting to that time of the year when we have a lot of travelers who maybe haven’t been on a plane or come through security for the last several months — or even the last couple of years, because of the pandemic,” Dankers said. There also will be more families navigating security with children. “So it’s time to refresh.”