The Transportation Security Administration said Friday that personnel have been calling out sick, but said the absences “are causing minimal impact.”
The statement comes amid reports that hundreds of TSA employees have called out sick this week.
TSA officers at airports are working without pay during the partial government shutdown that began Dec. 22.
“Call outs did begin over the Holiday period and have increased,” said TSA spokesman James O. Gregory. While the agency could not provide historical call-out information, CNN reported that call outs are up between 200-300 percent at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and up to 170 TSA employees at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York have called out each day this week. At least four major airports have reportedly been affected.
Gregory said security will not be compromised, but travelers may end up waiting longer for screenings — though longer wait times have not yet been the norm for most passengers, 99.8 percent of whom waited less than half an hour.
“TSA is grateful to the agents who show up to work, remain focused on the mission and respectful to the traveling public as they continue the important work necessary to secure the nation’s transportation systems,” Gregory said.
The partial shutdown is the result of a stalemate between President Trump and congressional Democrats over more than $5 billion in funding for a border wall, which Trump claims is necessary to protect the country from migrants illegally crossing the southern border.
