HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Passengers like Tammy Sullivan and Trella Hundley spent the night at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after missing their flights to Richmond International Airport.
“I arrived at the airport yesterday [Sunday] evening at a quarter after 7. My flight was at 9 last night. They ended up taking off 5 minutes early. I didn’t make my flight. My flight took off and landed before I even got through security. I didn’t get through security until 2 o’clock this morning,” Sullivan said.
CBS News reports more than 11.5 percent of TSA agents nationwide called out on Saturday when they failed to receive a second paycheck.
Hundley and her family arrived three hours early to make it through long security lines at the nation’s busiest air travel hub during the partial government shutdown.
“We got our flights changed to 10:45 pm. [Sunday]. Nope, didn’t make it. Had to get our flight changed to 7:25 a.m. [Monday]. We slept in the airport. I’ve never slept in the airport,” Hundley said.
Strangers quickly became friends and family while waiting for their turn at the body scanners.
“Everybody getting everyone else’s food. If you didn’t have a family member to get out of line to go and get you something to miss your spot — oh no, we got it. We banded together,” Hundley said.
Both women said they were looking forward to driving home and sleeping in their own beds while sharing messages of support to the TSA agents who showed up to work.
“We appreciate you guys,” Hundley said. “The ones that are there, thank you, thank you, thank you. The ones that aren’t there and not getting paid, I’m so sorry, my heart goes out to you.”
“You can’t get mad at them for it taking so long. It’s not their fault. They showed up and doing what they were supposed to do,” Sullivan said.
Monday morning, passengers flying out of Richmond International Airport moved through the TSA easily without standing in lines as seen at bigger airports.
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