The US airports where you should brace for long security lines as unpaid TSA agents stop showing up for work
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
- Some US airports are warning travelers about long TSA lines.
- The delays come as TSA agents, facing a missed paycheck amid the partial government shutdown, are not coming to work.
- Houston Hobby and New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport both warned of major delays.
The effects of the partial government shutdown were on display in some US airports starting on Sunday.
As TSA agents are expected to miss their first full paycheck on Saturday because of the partial shutdown, which started in February, some are not coming in to work. It’s resulting in long lines in some airports, and it comes as air travel hits the busy spring break period.
In X posts on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA, described the situation as “spring break under siege” and shared photos of throngs of people waiting in an airport.
For now, the chaos appears largely localized to a handful of airports — but travelers should expect lines across the US to worsen the longer the security officers work without pay.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security expired in mid-February after Democratic lawmakers demanded changes to federal immigration enforcement efforts.
TSA agents also worked without pay during the record government shutdown in October and November, and received their back pay once the government reopened.
Here’s a look at some of the airports where travelers can expect longer TSA wait times.
This is a developing story; please check back for updates.