Houston Hobby Airport is warning passengers to brace themselves for TSA wait times of three hours or longer, as strained staffing levels from the continuing partial federal government shutdown collide with the Spring Break travel rush.
On Sunday morning, frustrated travelers took to social media to share photos and videos of long lines to get through TSA security checkpoints at Houston Hobby with throngs of people zig-zagging throughout the terminal.
And the problems weren’t just isolated to Houston Hobby, with reports of the TSA line at New Orleans Airport becoming so long that it stretched into the parking garage.
On Sunday, Houston Hobby acknowledged the issue, saying in a statement: “As a result of the partial federal government shutdown, passengers at HOU may experience wait times longer than 180 minutes.”
The airport is now advising passengers to arrive at the airport up to five hours ahead of their scheduled departure time, and is urging passengers to remain flexible, with wait times likely to swing wildly from one day to the next.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for New Orleans Airport confirmed that the TSA was “experiencing a shortage of workers at the security checkpoint, which is causing longer-than-average lines.”
“Passengers with travel scheduled today are advised to arrive at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure to allow plenty of time to undergo security screening.”
The TSA, which recently lost former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as its leader, has yet to publicly comment on the spreading staffing woes.
Last month, Noem shocked the White House when she unilaterally decided to shutter TSA PreCheck at airports across the United States with just a few hours’ notice.
Noem received a fierce backlash over the decision, and within hours, the temporary suspension of PreCheck had been reversed. The TSA did, however, keep the PreCheck suspension as an emergency option at specific airports due to staffing triggers.
During the current government shutdown, frontline TSA workers are required to show up for work without pay until a dispute over appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security can be settled by Congress.
We are now on day 22 of the shutdown, with seemingly no end in sight as the deadlock continues on Capitol Hill.
In previous shutdowns, sickness rates amongst essential federal employees who had to work without pay shot up, as some workers found second jobs, or simply stayed at home because they couldn’t afford to put gas in their vehicles.
The airline industry has been desperate to avoid the kinds of scenes now playing out at Houston Hobby and New Orleans. In many hubs, airlines have been funding food banks for TSA employees who show up for work, although they are unable to offer direct cash incentives.
