RICHMOND, Va. — Travelers at some of the nation's busiest airports faced hours-long security lines Monday as a partial government shutdown entering its fourth week continues to drive a spike in TSA sick calls.
Tangila Smith arrived back home to Richmond early Monday evening from a girls trip to Houston — but only half her group made it on the same flight home, despite everyone arriving at Houston Hobby Airport three hours before departure.
"We got there and we got our boarding passes and everything. We went through the precheck, a few of us, and the other few had to go through regular TSA and stay there until they missed their flight. They didn't catch their flight," Smith said.
Smith's group was among travelers who arrived at airports Monday to find only half the TSA lanes open due to staffing shortages.
Scripps News Life
TSA shortages snarl airports as government shutdown stretches into Spring Break
At some other airports, including Atlanta and New Orleans, wait times stretched for hours as lines snaked through terminals, down staircases and even outside.
"I was here three weeks ago for Mardi Gras, and it was no problem... this is insane," one traveler said.
"I had to change my flight — so rather a 3 p.m. flight. Now I have an 8 p.m. flight," another traveler said.
The delays come as airlines are expecting more than 170 million travelers for spring break, amid a partial government shutdown over the Trump administration's immigration policies.
More than 50,000 TSA officers will miss a full paycheck this week and have no idea when the next one will come — driving the spike in sick calls.
Angela Grana, vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1127 and a TSA union official, said the situation is unsustainable for workers.
"We don't need a promise of a paycheck, we need a paycheck. We can't go to the bank with a promise," Grana said.
While Richmond's TSA lines are running smoothly so far, CBS 6 spoke off-camera to a TSA employee who said morale is low as some workers are looking for second jobs to make ends meet.
With a political stalemate continuing in Washington, travelers are trying to make the best of a frustrating situation.
"Hoping this nonsense is done and over with, but we will see," Smith said. "It is what it is and we just have to deal with it, and as my mother used to say, pack your patience."
The Department of Homeland Security says Precheck lines remain opena t many airports, allowing travelers who pass a verification process and pay a fee to go through a quicker security screening. However, DHS says Global Entry, which allows travelers to quickly go through customs, remains closed.
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