{"id":175239,"date":"2026-03-25T21:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/175239\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T21:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:51:17","slug":"tsa-experiencing-highest-wait-times-in-history-and-may-be-forced-to-shutter-entire-airports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/175239\/","title":{"rendered":"TSA experiencing highest wait times in history \u2014 and may be forced to shutter entire airports"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Airline passengers are experiencing some of the highest security wait times<\/a> in the 25-year-history of the\u00a0Transportation Security Administration \u2014 with\u00a0some taking more than four-and-a-half hours\u00a0to make it through checkpoints, a top official told Congress Wednesday.<\/p>\n

TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified to the House Homeland Security Committee that her beleaguered agency is \u201cbeing forced to\u00a0consolidate\u201d\u00a0and \u201cmay\u00a0have to close smaller airports if we do not have enough officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a fluid, challenging and unpredictable situation. We understand this is frustrating and disruptive,\u201d she added.\u00a0\u201cThis is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told the House Homeland Security Committee that her agency may be forced to consolidate and even close some airports due to staffing shortages during the partial government shutdown. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Airline passengers are experiencing some of the highest security wait times in the 25-year-history of the\u00a0Transportation Security Administration \u2014 with\u00a0some taking more than 4.5 hours\u00a0to make it through checkpoints. Getty Images<\/p>\n

More than 480 Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) have quit <\/a>during the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security,\u00a0McNeill revealed, warning that the figure is rapidly growing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the TSA recorded a shocking\u00a011.76% nationwide call-out rate among officers still on the payroll, the highest figure since the shutdown began Feb. 14, according to the latest figures. At some airports, call-out rates have jumped as high as between\u00a040% and 50%.<\/p>\n

Before the partial shutdown, call-out rates were around 2%, according to McNeill\u2019s deputy, Adam Stahl.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In other shocking testimony, McNeill claimed assaults against TSA officers are up 500%.<\/p>\n

The acting administrator commended President Trump for deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to airports<\/a> around the country to alleviate staffing pressures that have led to long wait times.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ICE agents monitoring a long line at LaGuardia Airport\u2019s Terminal B on March 25, 2026. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Travelers waiting in line at LaGuardia on March 25, 2026. AP<\/p>\n

She explained that the agents are performing \u201cnon-specialized screening functions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been spending time training them the last few days,\u201d\u00a0McNeill claimed. \u201cAnd we\u2019re seeing relief, signs of early relief at the airports.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been incredibly helpful to alleviate the burden on our workforce. And we\u2019re getting positive feedback from passengers and our field leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

A TSA officer working a crowded security line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on March 25, 2026. REUTERS<\/p>\n

An ICE agent seen at the TSA screening line at LaGuardia. NY Post<\/p>\n

A federal immigration officer directing passengers at a security checkpoint in George Bush International Airport in Houston on March 25, 2026. AP<\/p>\n

Long-term, however, she expressed concern that the shutdown could wear down TSA\u2019s ability to prevent terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n

Given the six-month training requirement for TSOs,\u00a0McNeill said she was particularly worried\u00a0that the funding lapse is undermining preparations for the\u00a02026 World Cup, which kicks off in June with MetLife Stadium due to host the final July 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the shutdown drags on, we will likely see our attrition rates continue to spike, which means that we may not have the adequate headcount to staff the airports that are supporting the FIFA locations adequately,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ongoing shutdown is also impacting our ability to procure and deploy technology, from checkpoint technology to some of our counter UAS [unmanned aerial vehicle] technology, in advance of the FIFA World Cup,\u201d McNeill continued. \u201cSo we\u2019re really running short on time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 Airline passengers are experiencing some of the highest security wait times in the 25-year-history of the\u00a0Transportation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3347,2300,2564,9,11,10,87,3367,58],"class_list":["post-175239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-airports","tag-department-of-homeland-security","tag-government-shutdown","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-politics","tag-tsa","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}