The Transportation Security Administration has announced that employees are increasingly calling out of work and many are claiming financial hardship.
This time last year, the employee call-off rate for the TSA was 3.7 percent, but that’s exploded to 6.1 percent nationwide during the partial government shutdown, and TSA agents are working without pay. The numbers come on the second of TSA’s now-daily reports on statistics during the shutdown.
“Many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations,” The TSA said in a press release.
Airport-specific numbers won’t be released, TSA says, over security concerns that criminals could use the data to attack specific airports. Overall, the TSA reports that wait times are within acceptable limits, implying that the shutdown hasn’t negatively affected travelers’ ability to get through airport security in an expedient manner.
Airports such as New York Stewart International Airport have expected wait times posted live on the terminal website.
Flying from @SWFairport soon? View real-time security checkpoint wait times on our website at https://t.co/3QQHTJM6pZ. #PaxEx pic.twitter.com/UgNM9yYilB
— New York Stewart International Airport (@SWFairport) January 10, 2019
Airport security has been a concern during the shutdown. A loaded firearm was able to slip past security in the U.S. until it was discovered in Tokyo.
