People hate the TSA right now and a growing internet conspiracy theory shows how bad it's getting
The situation boiled over this weekend when passengers at Chicago's O'Hare airport were left stranded after security lines exceeded three hours.
Of course, there's a conspiracy theory for that. Gaining traction on forums like Reddit is the idea that the TSA is deliberately slowing things down to push consumers into the PreCheck program.
"TSA [is] blatantly extorting passengers into paid PreCheck program by under staffing TSA and causing ridiculous lines at airports," Reddit user Zetavu posted on the website.
It costs $85 to $100 to apply for the TSA PreCheck program, depending on which level of clearance you apply for. Once you're approved, you can bypass the regular security line at the airport and go through an expedited process. Travelers must re-apply (and pay) every 5 years.
While there's nothing to back up the claim that TSA is forcing customers into paying for PreCheck, the agency - which has blamed the longer wait times on staffing cuts - does tout PreCheck as a solution for consumers.
"We encourage travelers to enroll in TSA PreCheck or other trusted traveler programs such as Global Entry, Nexus, or SENTRI, which improve security and reduce wait times," the TSA wrote in a statement to Business Insider last week. The statement was in response to news that The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey threatened to replace the TSA with private contractors if wait times at local airports didn't improve.