Transportation Security Administration security lines show quick turnaround for passengers Saturday morning at Sacramento International Airport during the start of spring break.
Nicole Buss
nicole.buss@sacbee.com
Security lines showed quick turnaround for passengers Saturday morning at Sacramento International Airport on a weekend that for many is the start of spring break. But Transportation Security Administration agents expect it to worsen as the partial federal government shutdown continues and as TSA workers proceed without pay.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security partly shut down on Feb. 14. The Sacramento airport posted Thursday that wait times may fluctuate throughout the day due to the TSA staffing levels.
“If you’re traveling soon, we recommend arriving at least 2 hours before your scheduled departure to allow extra time for screening,” the post said. “Typically, our busiest travel times are 5-9 AM and 8-11 PM, but TSA wait times can vary depending on staffing and callouts.”
Things were moving smoothly Saturday morning, with dozens of passengers at a time flowing through the security checkpoint.
James Mudrock, a TSA worker for about 21 years, said he hopes people can be patient with the workers who are missing out on their pay. He is also the Northern California vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1260, which represents transportation security officers in California, Nevada and Arizona.
“It’s very difficult and stressful for our people, especially those who are just still recovering from the last one, the 45-day shutdown just a few months ago,” he said. “Our people are doing the best that they can to come in.”
He said the officers at Sacramento are very dedicated to their mission.
“They’re very professional and want to do their job the absolute best they can, but this situation is making it much more difficult,” Mudrock said.
On Friday, a bill that would have fund the DHS and provide paychecks for the TSA agents failed to advance in the Senate.
Early Saturday morning, President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that if an agreement to fund the DHS does not come soon, he will bring ICE agents to the airports.
“I look forward to seeing ICE in action at our Airports,” Trump wrote.
Savannah Smith, a morning traveler Saturday at the Sacramento airport, said she didn’t know about the partial shutdown.
“I had no clue about any of this. I just came at my normal time and things look fine to me,” she said.
Mudrock said that his Friday shift had people all the way to the back of their line.
“I was up at the checkpoint in Terminal B and the queue was almost full at the time I was there.”
In airports like Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans, wait times have stretched into multiple hours to get through security.
He said Sacramento isn’t experiencing the three-hour wait times that other airports around the country are facing due to Sacramento International Airport’s medium size.
He said he doesn’t want to see the lines grow any longer than what he has already seen.
“We don’t want people out there waiting and that is a security risk itself to have a lot of people cued up in the line,” Mudrock said. “We’re doing our best to get people through, but please be patient with us and understand our people are very stressed.”
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Nicole Buss is The Sacramento Bee’s Roseville/Placer County watchdog reporter. She previously covered Placer County at Gold Country Media. Buss grew up in Lincoln and is a graduate of Sierra College and Arizona State University.