Travel chaos has continued to sweep the nation as disgruntled passengers have been stuck in monster lines stretching over four hours.
Airports across the country are reporting unprecedented wait lines for security amid a severe shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers due to a partial government shutdown.
Record numbers of TSA workers have resigned or called out of work at major airports as the shutdown halted their pay, leading to massive security lines.
Footage from John F Kennedy (JFK) Airport in New York on Monday showed passengers were lined up all the way out into the parking lot, causing many to miss their flights despite arriving hours early.
At the nation’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta, officials told passengers in a statement to arrive at least four hours early for their flights.
Furious flyers say even that much time is not enough, as traveler Julie Kwert said she and her husband were forced to rebook despite arriving almost five hours before their flight.
‘We’ve just been standing and standing,’ Kwurt told CBS Mornings. ‘Our feet are killing us, and my husband has a heart condition on top of that.’
In response to the crippling TSA shortages, President Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to several major airports on Monday in hopes of easing the massive backlog.
Airports across the country are reporting unprecedented wait lines for security amid a severe shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers due to a partial government shutdown
Security lines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (pictured) snaked around the baggage claim area, with airports across the nation reporting wait times of over four hours
As of Monday morning, ICE agents were deployed to JFK, Chicago O’Hare, Louis Armstrong International Airport in Louisiana, and Pittsburg International Airport, with more expected at a number of other hubs in the coming days.
TSA staff have been without pay for weeks and missed their first full paycheck on Friday, which led to over 11.5 percent of officers nationwide calling out the next day.
Trump blamed the ‘radical left’ for the shutdown and its impact on airports, saying they had refused to ‘honor the deal that was approved and voted on in Congress.’
Over 300 TSA agents have resigned since the partial shutdown began on January 31, and officials fear that hundreds more could leave if they are forced to go without pay for much longer.
‘Our kids, our families, houses — everything is at stake at this moment,’ one TSA officer told CBS News Atlanta.
‘We are literally drowning in silence, and the world doesn’t even know it.’
The chaos at America’s airports comes as a Canada Air aircraft collided with an airport truck at New York’s LaGuardia on Sunday night, killing two people and injuring at least 41 others.
The tragedy appeared to be the result of low staffing at air traffic control at the airport, an issue that has been plaguing travelers for months.
In response to the crippling TSA shortages, President Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to several major airports on Monday in hopes of easing the massive backlog
Lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were snaked out of the building and into the parking lot on Monday morning
Monster lines have been reported at a number of airports across the nation, with travelers at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (pictured) saying they missed flights despite arriving four hours early
Lines stretched out into parking lots at several major airports across the nation on Monday
In a statement on Monday morning, JFK Airport officials blamed ‘the federal funding lapse’ for the huge backlogs.
Wait times at the airport had previously been reported at over three hours, but officials said in the update that the airport was no longer giving estimates because ‘wait times are subject to rapid change based on passenger volumes and TSA staffing.’
The deployment of ICE agents to airports has proved controversial following a number of incidents involving the agency in the past year.
Trump acknowledged the controversy in a Truth Social post on Monday, saying he would ‘greatly appreciate NO MASKS when helping our country out of the Democrat caused MESS at the airports.’
Controversies involving ICE have been blamed by Democrats for the partial shutdown, as many are refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security – which controls both ICE and TSA.
Travelers are seen standing in long lines inside of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday
Trump acknowledged the controversy surrounding ICE agents on Monday, saying he would ‘greatly appreciate NO MASKS when helping our country out of the Democrat caused MESS at the airports’ in a Truth Social post on Monday
On Sunday, the CEOs of several major airlines including United, Delta and American sent an open letter to Congress urging them to re-open the government immediately.
The executives warned that TSA staff going unpaid was ‘simply unacceptable’, and cautioned that the crisis could deepen if they do not solve the issue urgently.
‘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 CEOs told lawmakers they needed to pass the Aviation Funding Solvency Act, the Aviation Funding Stability Act and the Keep America Flying Act, which would protect TSA workers and air traffic controllers from going without pay in the case of a future shutdown.
