“Why Does the TSA Have a Choir?” — TSA Agents Sing Instead of Helping Passengers Stuck in Long Line

An air traveler was upset to see seven TSA agents singing choir songs at the airport instead of helping passengers waiting in line.

TikTok user Yeni Yazmin (@yeniyazmin1) uploaded a video she says was taken at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nev.

If you've ever flown, then you know how stressful the entire ordeal can be. You've got to make sure your bags are sufficiently packed and are under the airline's weight limit. Then you have to ensure you're arriving at the airport early enough so you don't miss your flight.

A big part of the process hinges on how quickly you can make it through security. Even having TSA pre-check won't necessarily guarantee you fast passage through the airport. And if there happens to be a long line, a process that should have only taken a few minutes can take forever.

According to Yeni, TSA employees during her visit through Harry Reid International weren't exactly jumping at the opportunity to help travelers make it through the security checkpoint any quicker.

In a caption for her clip, she writes that there was a "line of baggage waiting to be checked."

Despite all of the work that needed to be done to help fliers get on their merry way to their gates, Yeni says there was "only one person checking each side."

Furthermore, she showed off lines of people waiting at the security checkpoint. All the while, the TSA agent chorus can be heard singing.

Yeni pans to several travelers looking in the direction of the singers. She didn't seem too thrilled with the scene she captured in her video, however. "Make it make sense," she added at the end of her caption.

It also doesn't help that Harry Reid is America's eighth busiest airport. Afar magazine writes that 27.9 million passengers traveled through the hub in 2023, so it's not like there's ever really a dearth of people to help get on with their respective journeys through the airport terminals.

TSA's customer service branch manager Niki French said that this dedication to improving passenger interactions is a delicate balancing act. "A lot of times TSA can, unfortunately, be seen as standing between you and your vacation. It’s something that you have to go through. It’s a security process, so it’s not necessarily a good time," she remarked.

Furthermore, she added that the TSA faces similar challenges that the Department of Homeland Security does. Which is ensuring fliers are safe while not bumming them out or infringing on their personal freedoms.

Recently, another social media user called out TSA agents for purportedly humiliating her during a line mixup. The influencer, who goes by Jos on TikTok, checked in the wrong bag at Austin International Airport before boarding her flight to London.

Jos states she was told by one agent to go head to another line and switch her bag out. However, this other line was situated in the priority lane where a different TSA agent was stationed.

Jos says that she was yelled at by this other TSA employee for being in the priority line despite not having priority access.

Jos gestured towards the initial TSA worker, but says that they didn't have her back and informed her to head on over to the "normal" TSA line. To make matters worse, her bags ended up getting stuck on the security carousel, which, she says, prompted TSA workers to yell at her.

While this was occurring, the influence claims the original employee stood there and laughed.