TSA wait time in Atlanta hits two hours as shutdown staffing shortages persist

Published March 20, 2026 8:39am ET



Major airports on Friday continued to grapple with long wait times at security checkpoints, due to the showdown over the Department of Homeland Security’s funding in Congress. 

In Atlanta, two-hour lines stretched out at the world’s busiest airport. The debacle at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport mirrored lines at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Texas, where passengers at crowded Transportation Security Administration checkpoints faced two-and-a-half-hour wait times Friday morning. At George Bush Intercontinental Airport, wait times were up to 135 minutes. 

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