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.
The development was sparked due to bickering in Congress over DHS funding. Democrats want policy changes for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which falls under DHS, to be part of any deal. In the meantime, their position has provoked funding negotiations with Republicans and a temporary shutdown of parts of the agency, including TSA.
That means TSA employees are working without pay, which disincentivizes them from showing up. Swaths of airport security workers have called out “sick” or quit their jobs since the partial shutdown locked down paychecks, leading officials to warn that major airports may be forced to close. Around 10% of TSA workers nationwide, or 2,700 workers, called out sick on Tuesday.
In an open letter to Congress sent Sunday, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and three other airlines pleaded for lawmakers to resolve the matter swiftly.
“TSA officers just received $0 paychecks,” they wrote. “That is simply unacceptable. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car, and pay rent when you are not getting paid. … The stakes are especially high. U.S. airlines expect 171 million passengers this spring season, a new record.”
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Hundreds of TSA workers have quit amid the government’s stonewalling.
“It’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call-out rates go up and a lot of these officers can’t afford to come in,” acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl warned Tuesday.
