TSA queues, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL), the world’s busiest airport, reported wait times of nearly 2 hr. at its main domestic security checkpoint on March 18 as the partial shutdown of the U.S. Homeland Security Department (DHS) continues with no end in sight.
A top Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official went so far as to warn on March 17 that the agency “may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones,” if the lapse in DHS funding is not resolved.
ATL said around a third of the airport’s TSA checkpoint officers did not report to work on March 18. According to flight tracking website FlightAware, more than 60 flights were cancelled and more than 350 delayed at ATL, though not all flight disruptions are related to the security delays.
DHS funding lapsed on Feb. 14 over political disagreements on immigration policy related primarily to department agencies Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Control (CBP). But the most significant fallout has been unpaid TSA security officers not coming to work or even quitting.
Republicans and Democrats continue to point fingers at each other over the DHS shutdown as talks in Congress to find a resolution remain stalled.
Around 47,000 transportation security officers (TSOs) who staff checkpoints at airports across the U.S. are going without pay. DHS said 366 TSOs have left the agency since Feb. 14 and call out rates at airports continue to rise, leading to understaffing and closed checkpoints.
On its website page that tracks security checkpoint wait times, ATL reported an average wait time of 113 min. at 2 pm local time on March 18 at its main domestic checkpoint, with one of the airport’s four domestic checkpoints closed. ATL General Manager Ricky Smith told local media in Atlanta that TSO call out rates at the airport exceeded 30% on March 18. He said ATL is giving TSOs two meal vouchers per shift that can be used at any food concession at the airport.
TSA Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl, in an appearance on Fox News on March 17, said the agency was “fully stretched” with TSOs “facing dire financial straits.” His comments regarding shutting down airports gained prominent attention.
In a March 18 appearance on CNN, Stahl appeared to soften those comments, emphasizing that he had used the word “may.” He said a “variety of factors,” especially staffing levels, would determine whether an airport would have to be closed, but that talk of shutting down airports at this stage is “hypothetical.”
Aaron Barker, the head of the Atlanta chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union which represents TSA workers, said during a press conference that ATL-based TSOs are facing “eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts.”
Denver International Airport (DEN) is soliciting “grocery store and gas gift card donations in denominations of $10 or $20 from the public to support the TSA employees who continue to work without pay,” the airport said in a press release. DEN CEO Phil Washington reiterated the plea, “calling on the public, our passengers and other airport employees to donate” the gift cards.
Security checkpoint delays have varied around the country, with some airports reporting little to no disruptions and others facing severe issues. The most extreme example occurred at Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) on March 14, when over 50% of HOU’s TSOs failed to show up for work and checkpoint wait times extended past 3 hr. But DEN, for example, reported checkpoint wait times of just 3-9 min. during the afternoon on March 18.
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