People waiting in a TSA line at the airport, TSA agents in blue shirts behind their work stations and someone showing their cell phone
Airports all across the country are on the brink of closure as TSA agents continue to ride a jet stream of resignations and callouts, warned TSA’s acting deputy administrator, Adam Stahl.
“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,” Stahl told CNN.
Thousands of TSA workers have been calling out sick every day since the Department of Homeland Security shutdown on Feb. 14, resulting in long lines and thousands of flight delays.
A massive wave of TSA agents calling out or quitting due to the DHS shutdown, which means no pay, could paralyze air travel. REUTERS
Another 376 have quit their jobs altogether, leaving about 50,000 TSA workers to grapple with the chaos on their own.
Before noon on Saturday, there were already 1,910 reported flight delays in and out of the US, and another 110 cancellations due to the madness, FlightAware data shows.
Security lines have stretched to two hours nationwide, with some, like Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, exceeding a 180-minute wait.
New York’s LaGuardia Airport is seeing long, winding lines form as early as 4:50 a.m., with anxious travelers spilling into the parking lot as they wait.
Passengers are waiting on lines that take hours to reach security checkpoints in airports around the country. REUTERS
The security line at Terminal B at LGA was at a projected hour on Saturday morning, which was significantly longer than the 15-minute wait stated on the website.
“I saw Instagram, and I was like, ‘Oh, they’re probably hyping it up.’ It was unexpected. It really threw us off,” said Heta Penchal, who was traveling to visit family in Chicago with her 1- and 5-year-old kids.
“It looks like everyone’s gonna be miserable, anxiously waiting to see if they’re gonna make their flight.”
Jenny Dontheva, 48, of Westchester, grew more and more nervous after realizing that the TSA precheck line was stretching through the entire terminal.
A traveler shows the chronometer on their phone running the time they got in line to when they reached the security checkpoint. REUTERS
“We walked along the line, and looking for where it ends, and we couldn’t see any end. And it’s just every step makes me more amazed, more surprised. I have no words, actually, to describe this line. It’s crazy,” Dontheva said, adding that she was “nervous” she would miss her flight to Georgia.
The security line at LaGuardia’s Terminal B was at a projected hour on Saturday morning. J.C. Rice for NY Post
When asked if she had a message for the government officials causing the headache, Dontheva said: “I think they live in a different world than us, so they have no idea what’s going on, how the decisions influence our daily life. I think they should, every once in a while, just come down to Earth, check it out, what’s happening here, down here.”
Disruptions have also been reported in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Orlando, Philadelphia and other airports on both coasts.
There’s no relief in sight — and the travel nightmares could only grow worse as schools across the country enter spring break and people fly for Easter and Passover.
A bill to fund the DHS failed to pass in the Senate on Friday, meaning Stahl’s prediction could soon become fact.
“The reality of the situation is this is going to get worse before it gets better, if we don’t see any sort of action,” he said.
About 10% of TSA agents across the nation missed work Thursday, according to the DHS.
That absentee rate was two or three times higher in some places: 33% at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, 29% at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, 27% at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, and 23% at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Some airports across the nation have established food drives and free pantries to help TSA staffers, who earn an average of $61,000 annually, according to federal data.
Many have applied for food stamps, while others have taken on side gigs like making Amazon deliveries and driving for rideshare apps, according to Rebecca Wolf, president of AFGE Local 1127, who represents TSA officers at 47 airports across several western states.
March 27 would mark the second consecutive paycheck the workers will miss — and the shutdown marks their second stretch without pay in the last six months.
The House Committee on Homeland Security has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to review the partial shutdown’s impact on the TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies within DHS.
Lawmakers are scrambling to find an emergency stopgap, but many are not hopeful.
“This is a pox on everybody’s house,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
If airports are forced to close, the smaller ones will go first.
“We make these determinations on an airport-by-airport basis,” said Stahl.
The chaos could be worsened as jet fuel prices skyrocket thanks to the Iran War.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a staff memo Friday that the airline would cut more of its unprofitable flights over the next two quarters after fuel prices doubled last month.
If United continued to operate as usual amid the crisis, its fuel bill would rise by about $11 billion, more than twice the profit it earned in its “best year ever,” he said.
With Post Wires
