{"id":193537,"date":"2026-03-16T14:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/193537\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T14:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:46:10","slug":"airports-experiencing-delays-as-tsa-workers-quit-amid-partial-government-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/193537\/","title":{"rendered":"Airports Experiencing Delays as TSA Workers Quit Amid Partial Government Shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Transportation Security Administration employees are officially working without pay \u2014\u00a0leading some to quit and others to call out of work, affecting travelers.<\/p>\n<p>TSA Workers Quitting<a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Orlando-International-Airport-MCO-stock-4-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1366\" alt=\"Orlando International Airport\" class=\"wp-image-1393882 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Orlando-International-Airport-MCO-stock-4-1.jpg\" data-eio-rwidth=\"2048\" data-eio-rheight=\"1366\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1366\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Orlando-International-Airport-MCO-stock-4-1.jpg\" alt=\"Orlando International Airport\" class=\"wp-image-1393882\" data-eio=\"l\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The partial government shutdown began a month ago with a pause in funding for the Department of Homeland Security, leading to the <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/2026\/02\/global-entry-and-tsa-precheck-suspended-due-to-government-shutdown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">temporary suspension of Global Entry and TSA PreCheck<\/a>. This week marks the first that TSA workers went without a full paycheck.<\/p>\n<p>The DHS says over 300 TSA agents have quit. This follows approximately 1,110 officers \u201cseparating\u201d from the TSA during the government shutdown last fall.<\/p>\n<p>CBS News says that call outs have jumped from 2% before the funding lapse to 6% during the shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>CEOs of major airlines like American, Delta, Southwest, and JetBlue, as well as UPS and FedEx, shared an open letter to Congress on Sunday encouraging a bipartisan solution to restore DHS funding. They urged Congress to pass acts that would ensure air traffic controllers and TSA agents are paid regardless of the government\u2019s funding status.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n<p><a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Orlando-International-Airport-MCO-stock-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1738\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1342373 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Orlando-International-Airport-MCO-stock-3.jpg\" data-eio-rwidth=\"2560\" data-eio-rheight=\"1738\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1738\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Orlando-International-Airport-MCO-stock-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1342373\" data-eio=\"l\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>CNN interviewed TSA employees who say they are not getting as much support as they did during the last shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(The resources) we had in the fall are not available today,\u201d said George Borek, a TSA officer at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.<\/p>\n<p>Various airports are requesting donations of groceries and other supplies with drop-off boxes. The Orlando International Airport (MCO) is hosting a food drive. They are accepting:<\/p>\n<p>Nonperishable food items<\/p>\n<p>Cleaning and laundry supplies<\/p>\n<p>Diapers (all sizes)<\/p>\n<p>Pet supplies<\/p>\n<p>$10 gift cards for gas or grocery stores<\/p>\n<p>Travelers can make donations  at Information booths on the Departures level, the Terminal C Departures Curb from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the weekends, and at the Orlando Executive Airport from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Airports are also encouraging travelers to arrive early for flights as security wait times can be hours long due to the shortage of workers. MCO is experiencing their <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/2026\/03\/mco-airport-busiest-period-spring-break\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">busiest spring break ever<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Are your travels affected by this news? Let us know on social media.<\/p>\n<p>For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">WDW News Today<\/a> on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wdwnt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WDWNewsToday\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Facebook<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wdwnt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transportation Security Administration employees are officially working without pay \u2014\u00a0leading some to quit and others to call out&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2582,6205,139,141,3847,140,3212,3213],"class_list":["post-193537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-government-shutdown","tag-mco","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-international-airport","tag-orlando-news","tag-transportation-security-administration","tag-tsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}