Fewer federal custom officers to be reassigned from OIA

Four federal customs officers will be reassigned from Orlando International Airport to the southwest border for 90 days, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy said this week.

Ten reassignments had been anticipated last month. Murphy, who wrote on social media that she met with federal officials this week, called the situation “better but still concerning.”

Her response comes after airport officials released a letter in December that outlined their concerns if the positions were reassigned. Those issues included worries that OIA staff would be overburdened and international passengers arriving at the airport might face delays. The letter said the federal officers would be replaced by another group with the rotation continuing indefinitely.

In her update, Murphy, D-Winter Park, wrote, “… Once this initial 90-day rotation ends, [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] will evaluate whether to temporarily transfer a second group of officers from OIA to the southwest border. I will be pushing hard to prevent this result — because these officers are needed at OIA to protect our security and keep our economy moving.”

The dispute over the federal officers is happening at a time when the airport has seen recordbreaking numbers.

More than 3.6 million people traveled in and out of the airport in November — a 7 percent jump from November 2016, according to the most recent numbers available. The month also saw an increase of more than 240,000 available seats from airlines including Frontier, jetBlue, Southwest and Spirit. The strong November capped the airport’s new high in traffic for a 12-month period, with 44.3 million passengers traveling through OIA.

The airport and TSA recommend that passengers with medical conditions, disabilities and other special circumstances call 855-787-2227 if they anticipate needing extra assistance during screening. OIA also provides security-checkpoint wait times via its free mobile app by Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.