\u201cWe left four hours earlier than we originally planned,\u201d Mike Mayer, an aviation and defense executive based in New York, said after he got through security in Terminal 4.<\/p>\n
But right next door at Terminal 5, which serves budget airline JetBlue (JBLU<\/a>), wait times for general boarding appeared to last for hours<\/a>.<\/p>\n While it worked out fine for Mayer, and he got through security with plenty of time, it\u2019s been a disaster everywhere else, and he felt the pain for TSA workers.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a travesty they\u2019re not getting paid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Read more:\u00a0CLEAR+ lets you bypass TSA checkpoints for ID. Is it worth the cost?<\/a><\/p>\n With the government shutdown extending beyond 40 days, TSA workers have now missed two paychecks, leading to more workers than usual calling out. Add that to the 480 workers<\/a> who quit their jobs during this shutdown and the shortage of trained TSA workers at airports, and it\u2019s leading to closed security checkpoints, multiple-hour waits in security lines, and missed flights.<\/p>\n Reports from Baltimore\u2019s BWI Airport, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Newark Airport in New Jersey showed more of the same.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in Houston [Thursday] trying to go through TSA, the lines were four hours,\u201d travel expert and CBS News editor Peter Greenberg told Yahoo Finance. \u201cAnd guess what? The average absentee rate there is over 40% at Bush Intercontinental, at Hobby [Airport] across town, it was 55%.\u201d<\/p>\n At some airports, 40% to 50% of the TSA workforce called out on certain days, driving what TSA’s top official, Ha Nguyen McNeill, described as the highest wait times in TSA history,\u00a0exceeding four-and-a-half hours<\/a>.<\/p>\n Efforts to end the 41-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security saw a bipartisan breakthrough in the Senate early Friday, followed by an angry rejection when the measure reached the House.<\/p>\n The continued gridlock led to renewed uncertainty about what compromise is even possible to end the weeks-long logjam.<\/p>\n House Speaker Mike Johnson summarily rejected that approach Friday afternoon and announced that the House will pass a different bill to fund the entire Department of Homeland Security until May 22.<\/p>\n But the Senate, now in recess for the weekend, won\u2019t be able to consider any new bill until Monday.<\/p>\n On Thursday evening, President Trump announced plans<\/a> to sign an executive order to \u201caddress this Emergency Situation\u201d and pay TSA agents without congressional approval. But it is unclear what legal authority that move would rely on. However, Johnson expressed confidence that the White House could move quickly, saying \u201cthat machinery is in process right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: Flight chaos grows as TSA lines stretch for hours. What to know about trip cancellation insurance.<\/a><\/p>\n For the airlines, missed flights and reduced capacity will hit the bottom line, and this doesn\u2019t include the effect of higher fuel prices stemming from the US-Israel war against Iran.<\/p>\n The CEOs of American Airlines (AAL<\/a>), Delta (DAL<\/a>), United (UAL<\/a>), Southwest (LUV<\/a>), JetBlue (JBLU<\/a>), Alaska Air (ALK<\/a>), and several cargo carriers, including UPS (UPS<\/a>) and FedEx (FDX<\/a>), signed a joint open letter to Congress demanding an immediate end to the shutdown.<\/p>\n The CEOs, already smarting from last fall\u2019s funding impasse that left TSA workers and air traffic controllers without pay, did not hold back.<\/p>\n “Once again, air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown,” the executives wrote via Airlines for America<\/a>, an industry trade group. “TSA officers just received $0 paychecks. That is simply unacceptable. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid.”<\/p>\n The industry expects a record 171 million passengers this spring, with the FIFA World Cup 2026 and America’s 250th birthday celebrations adding even more pressure on an already strained system this summer.<\/p>\n The joint letter warned that “too many travelers are having to wait in extraordinarily long \u2014 and painfully slow \u2014 lines at checkpoints,” leading to airlines holding flights and scrambling to rebook passengers, costs that compound daily.<\/p>\n Delta, the world’s largest airline by market capitalization, went further with its criticism.<\/p>\n Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in an interview with CNBC<\/a> that he was “outraged” that security agents continue to work without pay, calling it “inexcusable” and accusing Washington of using frontline workers as “political chips.”<\/p>\n And the pain from snarled TSA lines and missed flights doesn\u2019t include broader economic headwinds battering the industry.<\/p>\n Surging fuel prices tied to the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran are already squeezing margins.<\/p>\n Delta’s Bastian noted that the war in Iran adds additional layers of uncertainty<\/a> that make planning for the busy spring and summer seasons extraordinarily difficult, with the hit from higher fuel costs touching $400 million alone in March.<\/p>\n At the center of the chaos are the TSA officers themselves \u2014 essential workers who are legally required to show up but are doing so with their compensation delayed.<\/p>\n TSA employees are dealing with eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, and even selling blood plasma for food money<\/a>. Some officers have reported being unable to afford co-payments<\/a> for cancer treatments or medical visits for sick children.<\/p>\n TSA\u2019s McNeill, testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, warned that the agency may be forced to close smaller airports entirely<\/a> if staffing continues to deteriorate. McNeill also warned of travel woes that will continue beyond the shutdown, with an onboarding process for new hires that includes four to six months of training.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because most TSA workers are in a dire predicament, and they need to work now.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have another situation where the average salary of a TSA agent is about $35,000 a year. That’s hand-to-mouth time, and they just literally have to go out and get second jobs. They can’t afford to be out of work,\u201d Greenberg said.<\/p>\n Greenberg thinks the sheer pain felt by airlines, and even by D.C. politicians who are having problems traveling, means a solution could be coming soon.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you talk about long-term damage to the airline industry, historically, you’re really talking about self-inflicting wounds. They’re their own worst enemies, whether it’s government or the airlines themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cMy guess is that this is going to get resolved relatively soon because of the economic impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether it gets solved sooner rather than later, travelers like Mike Mayer believe Washington is the root of the problem.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s the current political system, executive branch and legislative branch together, not working together to get the things that are important for the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of blame to go around.\u201d<\/p>\n Pras Subramanian is Lead Auto Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X<\/a> and on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Click here for the latest technology news that will impact the stock market<\/a><\/p>\n Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance<\/a><\/p>\n ![\"Passengers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/86a60c1c-b2d9-4fd9-bf43-317b62084a3a.jpeg\")
Passengers wait in long TSA lines amid a funding standoff that has forced 50,000 airport security officers to go without pay, causing delays at airports, at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, U.S., March 25, 2026. REUTERS\/Antranik Tavitian \u00b7 Reuters \/ REUTERS <\/p>\n United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty and Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan participate in an event with U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as he launches an air traffic control infrastructure plan during an event at the Transportation Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. REUTERS\/Jonathan Ernst \u00b7 REUTERS \/ REUTERS <\/p>\n
A TSA worker mans a TSA checkpoint at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport in Imperial, Pa., on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gene J. Puskar) \u00b7 ASSOCIATED PRESS <\/p>\n
TSA workers check a passenger’s passport at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport in Imperial, Pa., on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gene J. Puskar) \u00b7 ASSOCIATED PRESS <\/p>\n