Chicago air travelers faced a mile-long TSA line on Sunday


Midway isn't Chicago's busiest airport (that would be O'Hare), but on Sunday, it probably felt like it. The Sunday at the end of the four-day Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest travel days of the year, and the TSA security line that greeted air passengers yesterday morning was reportedly 1.2 miles long, snaking from the security gate down the hall, out the door, all the way to the subway station, and back inside the airport. This is what that looks like in grainy stop-motion, from Paige Southard and the Chicago Sun-Times:
Some passengers missed their flights, but the TSA apparently moved the line through with impressive speed, all things considered:
The airport authorities were philosophical about the ridiculously long line. "This happens sometimes," Chicago Aviation Department spokeswoman Karen Pride told the Chicago Sun-Times. The lines were long for a two-hour period on Sunday morning "because that is when most people are traveling for the holiday period."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Can US tourism survive Trump's policies?
Today's Big Question The tourist economy is 'heading in the wrong direction'
-
September's books tell of friendship in middle age, teachers versus fascists, and Covid psychosis
the week recommends September books include Angela Flournoy's 'The Wilderness,' Randi Weingarten's 'Why Fascists Fear Teachers' and Patricia Lockwood's 'Will There Ever Be Another You'
-
'Total rat eradication in New York has been deemed impossible'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play