Airports across the U.S. are on the brink of major disruption as TSA staffing shortages spiral during the ongoing government shutdown.
Officials are now warning that some airports could be forced to effectively shut down if conditions continue to worsen.
TSA acting deputy administrator Adam Stahl delivered the blunt warning, saying, “It’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call-out rates go up.”
The issue stems from tens of thousands of TSA workers going without pay since mid-February, triggering a wave of absences and resignations.
Roughly 50,000 TSA employees are still working without pay, but many are increasingly unable to show up.
“As the weeks continue, our TSA officers, as long as they don’t get paid, they’re going to continue to call out,” Stahl said. “They can’t afford to come in, and they’re going to quit altogether.”
The result is already being felt nationwide.
Security wait times have ballooned to around two hours at many airports, with some locations seeing even worse conditions.
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, lines have stretched beyond checkpoints and into baggage claim areas.
In Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, wait times have reached up to 180 minutes, while call-out rates surged to nearly 41% earlier this week.
New York’s LaGuardia Airport has also seen long lines forming before sunrise, with travelers spilling into parking areas as they wait.
Airports in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Orlando, and Philadelphia have all reported significant delays.
The situation is especially dangerous for smaller airports, which have fewer staff and less flexibility to shift resources.
While TSA can sometimes move personnel to busier hubs, officials say those backup resources have already been exhausted, per the Daily Mail.
Even though TSA cannot directly “shut down” an airport, the reality is simple.
Without security screening, flights cannot take off.
That means widespread staffing shortages could effectively bring operations to a halt.
The travel chaos is also hitting airlines hard.
As of Friday, nearly 800 flights had been canceled and more than 5,000 delayed nationwide, according to FlightAware.
Behind the scenes, the crisis is tied to a stalled funding battle in Washington.
A bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security failed to advance in the Senate, leaving the shutdown unresolved.
Lawmakers remain divided on how to move forward.
Some Democrats are pushing for a targeted bill to fund TSA alone, while Republicans are seeking broader funding tied to immigration enforcement policies.
“This needs to be fixed,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said. “You’ve got people standing in lines at the airports.”
