At Terminal One, passengers and workers had heard the headlines — missed flights, armed agents, gridlocked terminals. On Tuesday afternoon at San Diego International Airport, they saw neither.
Still, remnants of Monday’s two-hour TSA lines were evident: neon yellow tape to mark the security line zigzagged from the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint past the ticketing counter, over the bridge and out the door.
Now, airport officials say they are prepared to handle long lines through the weekend.
This week, San Diego flyers have been dealing with a perfect storm of delay issues: Weather disruptions, spring break crowds and the fallout from a deadly crash at LaGuardia. At the same time, a TSA staffing shortage prompted by a partial government shutdown triggered President Trump to deploy ICE agents to airports across the country — though none in San Diego.
On Tuesday, “the lines were not as long as yesterday,” said Nicole Hall, spokesperson for the San Diego International Airport. But there was a busy morning rush until around 10 a.m., with Checkpoint 5 at Terminal 2 seeing lines extending across the passenger bridge that connects the upper departures drop-off area to the ticket counters.
In Terminal 1, TSA PreCheck was closed, and many workers didn’t show up until 8 a.m., according to Frontier employees working at the ticket counters. Lines returned to normal only after TSA employees arrived.
(Noelle Harff)
TSA lines are longest during the morning hours of 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., with an uptick around noon to about 1 p.m., and again from 5 to 7 p.m. (Noelle Harff/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“I don’t blame them for not coming in extra early without a paycheck,” said Desiree Holiday, who showed up more than three hours early for her business trip to Phoenix. “It’s pretty disheartening. I feel like I should bring a tip jar.”
Lines are longest during the morning hours of 5 to 7, with an uptick around noon to about 1 p.m., and again from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., said Hall. “We tell passengers to use an abundance of caution and give yourself enough time.”
Hall advises passengers to come 2 1/2 hours early.
Holiday arrived more than three hours early, anticipating long lines, but she was told she had come too early.
“They tell you to come three hours early, and it’s not true,” she said, as Frontier doesn’t let passengers check bags more than two hours before a flight. “Now I can’t go anywhere, and the line is growing.”
More than 25 flights had been delayed Tuesday morning, according to FlightAware, and one flight had been canceled — fewer than the 110 delays and eight cancelations from the day prior.
“There were tears and people running to their gates. It was chaos,” said Juan Alvia, customer service manager for Frontier. He saw at least 44 passengers miss their flights on Monday. While airlines can hold the door for passengers, only one Frontier flight held its door until takeoff at 9 a.m., he said.
Nearly every flight on Tuesday was fully booked, filled with passengers rescheduled from missed flights the day prior.
Administration officials said about 10% of TSA workers failed to report for duty on some recent days, compared to typical rates of less than 2%.
About 70 to 80 officers per day are not showing up to work in San Diego, up from around 20 before the shutdown, according to Aaron Vazquez, a TSA lead transportation security officer at the San Diego airport and union member.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that nationally, at least 458 TSA officers have quit altogether, according to DHS.
“It’s unpredictable,” said Hall, “We just urge passengers to be prepared.”
(Noelle Harff)
Yellow tape marks security lines at the San Diego International Airport on Tuesday in anticipation of long lines during the partial government shutdown. (Noelle Harff/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Ferez Khan, a Frontier ticketing agent, pointed to the taped-off security lines that led out the door. “You see that yellow tape? Why do you think they have those up? It’s a sign.”