TSA Agents Just Got Their Final Paycheck: Now The Shutdown Turns Ugly For Travelers
- Despite the dire warnings of travel chaos, the U.S. government shutdown hasn't brought the nation's airports to a standstill... Yet.
- But TSA officers have just received their last partial pay check and it's now that the cracks could quickly start to appear with long lines, and missed flights on the cards.
As the US partial government shutdown enters its third week, the nation’s airports have remained surprisingly resilient. Despite shortages of air traffic controllers, causing a limited number of delays and cancellations, the threat of mass travel chaos hasn’t, so far at least, materialized.
That, however, may soon be about to change. Around 50,000 transportation security officers at the TSA have recently been paid their last partial paycheck for wages earned prior to the federal government shutdown.
Despite the fact that TSA agents across the country have been working without pay since October 1, they at least knew they would receive wages for the period between September 21 and September 30.
This has no doubt helped the TSA function almost like normal. Since October 1, the TSA has screened nearly 34 million passengers, intercepted 262 firearms, and detected more than 38,000 prohibited items at airport checkpoints.
These ‘remarkable milestones’ came on the back of the TSA recording its sixth busiest day ever on October 10, marking the first time the agency has screened 3 million passengers in a single day during a government shutdown.
But given that wages from their last paycheck cover just nine days, some TSA officers could quickly burn through this cash, at which point, staff shortages might quickly start causing lines to back up at major US airports.
If previous shutdowns are anything to go by, some TSA agents will call in sick so that they can prioritize working a second job – Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash are popular options.
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Others might not even be afford gas to put in their vehicle to even get to work, while others could decide that now is the time to hang up their TSA uniform for good and move on to something new.
Thankfully, the TSA’s attrition for airport security officers has dramatically improved in the past few years, dropping from a shameful 17%-19% at around the time of the pandemic to just 8.6% last year.
The turnaround has been credited with much more generous pay, so passengers can only hope that TSOs will stay on the job so that they can earn a big check in back pay once the shutdown finally ends.
What does the TSA have to say?
Given that non-essential TSA staffers have been furloughed for the duration of the shutdown, communications from the agency have been pretty limited. However, on October 1, the TSA warned that an extended shutdown “could mean longer wait times at airports.”
Matt’s Take – This is not the time to play ‘airport theory’
In recent months, we’ve seen an increasing number of normal travelers try the viral TikTok trend that goes by the name of ‘Airport Theory’ – the idea that you can arrive at the airport with just minutes to spare before your scheduled flight and get to the plane in time.
Now is not the time to test this theory. Airport security lines are already creeping up at some major airports, and the situation on the ground could change very dynamically.
In past shutdowns, sick calls could surge by 5-7% weeks in the coming weeks, causing long lines and delays getting through the TSA checkpoint. In other words, now is the time to start leaving a little extra time to get through the airport.
