Travelers looking to get away for Spring Break were once again met with long lines to get through security as the partial-government shutdown continued on Wednesday.
The longest lines were reported at some of the nation’s largest hubs, with New York City‘s John F Kennedy International Airport reporting wait times of 43 minutes and the nearby Newark International Airport in New Jersey reporting wait times of 36 minutes.
Some Spring Break destinations were also seeing long lines, with Daniel K Inouye International Airport in Honolulu reporting wait times of up to 45 minutes as of 5pm on Wednesday, while Orlando International Airport in Florida was reporting wait times of up to 24 minutes and Miami International Airport in Florida reported wait times of 13 minutes.
Meanwhile, at the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, lines to get through security were taking some passengers up to an hour after officials there said roughly 36 percent of Transportation Security Administration workers failed to show up to work.
The officers had to forego their first paycheck on Friday as Democrats and Republicans continue to spar over funding for the Department of Homeland Security following two fatal shootings of US citizens during immigration raids in Minnesota.
Now, unions representing the airport workers say they are starting to struggle financially.
‘Many are coping with eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts,’ Aaron Baker, the president of a union representing Georgia’s TSA workers said at a news conference outside Hartsfield-Jackson.
‘Every available financial option has been exhausted,’ he claimed, per WABE.
Long security lines once again snarled travel through America’s airports on Wednesday
Some TSA workers have even had to take on second jobs to support themselves as they wait for Congress to approve the DHS funding, he added.
Baker also argued that the TSA workers ‘have reason for not showing up, whether it’s “I can’t put gas in my car, I have to take care of my children, I had to pay my light bill so that my lights won’t get cut off, so that took away from the funds.”
‘Those are the reasons that officers are not showing up.’
Other TSA workers have quit entirely, with the White House announcing on Friday that 300 workers have tendered their resignations.
As a result, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport officials advised passengers to arrive three hours early for their flights – even if they were just traveling domestically.
But some were still left surprised when they arrived at the airport, with Sharquent Jacobs saying she waited over an hour to get through security for her flight back to California.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this,’ she said. ‘It’s crazy, but just come early, super early.’
Jamika Long also said she was trying to get home to Cleveland when she realized the security line at Hartsfield-Jackson was two hours long.
‘So I came to the acceptance like, “Yeah, I ain’t gonna make this flight,”‘ she said, noting that she then had to face another long line to rebook her flight.
TSA officers were forced to forego their first paycheck on Friday as Democrats and Republicans continue to spar over funding for the Department of Homeland Security
Airport officials are urging passengers to be patient. Travelers are seen waiting in a TSA Precheck security line at Miami International Airport on Tuesday
Airport officials are now urging passengers to be patient.
‘We always have an influx of passengers traveling through,’ Charles Pettis, director of customer experience at Hartsfield-Jackson, told CBS News.
‘Many are not familiar with the screening process, so we ask that you pack your patience as you move through the facility,’ he said.
‘Pack your patience, be understanding, be supportive and understand that TSA agents are working without pay right now.’
But Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl warned on Tuesday that some small airports could be forced to close if the partial government shutdown continues.
‘It’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call-out rates go up,’ he told Fox & Friends, noting that ‘a lot of these officers can’t afford to come in.’
Airlines for America – an industry trade group – is now calling on Congress to end the shutdown as it estimated that 171 million people will fly between March 1 and April 30, a four percent increase from the same period last year.
A traveler rests on the floor while waiting for their flight at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark on Wednesday
CEOs from ten airlines – Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines Group Inc, Alaska Air Group Inc, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and United Parcel Service – signed a letter on Saturday calling for the end of the shutdown
‘Americans – who live in your districts and home states – are tired of long lines at airports, travel delays and flight cancellations caused by shutdown after shutdown,’ the group wrote in a letter over the weekend.
‘Yet, once again, air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown,’ it continued, referencing a 43-day shutdown last fall that resulted in disruptions, delays and around 10 percent of flights cut at major airports by the Federal Aviation Administration.
‘This problem is solvable and there are solutions on the table.’
Executives then asked that Congress pass three measures that would see workers paid no matter the status of the government.
The letter was signed by CEOs from ten airlines – Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines Group Inc, Alaska Air Group Inc, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and United Parcel Service.
