Nationwide travel disruptions are leaving passengers frustrated as they endure extensive waits, some lasting more than four hours.
Airports throughout the United States are experiencing extraordinary delays at security checkpoints, a consequence of a critical shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel linked to a partial government shutdown.
Many TSA employees have either quit or are absent from work at key airports due to the suspension of their salaries, resulting in lengthy security lines.
In one striking example, video from New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport on Monday depicted long queues spilling into the parking areas, with numerous travelers missing their flights despite arriving well ahead of time.
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest in the country, officials have advised passengers to allow at least four hours before their flights to navigate the congestion.
However, frustrated travelers argue that even this buffer is insufficient. Julie Kwert, a traveler, recounted how she and her husband had to rebook their flight after enduring a wait of over four hours.
‘We’ve just been standing and standing,’ Kwurt told CBS Mornings. ‘Our feet are killing us, and my husband has a heart condition on top of that.’
In response to the crippling TSA shortages, President Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to several major airports on Monday in hopes of easing the massive backlog.
Airports across the country are reporting unprecedented wait lines for security amid a severe shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers due to a partial government shutdown
Security lines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (pictured) snaked around the baggage claim area, with airports across the nation reporting wait times of over four hours
As of Monday morning, ICE agents were deployed to JFK, Chicago O’Hare, Louis Armstrong International Airport in Louisiana, and Pittsburg International Airport, with more expected to be at a number of other hubs in the coming days.
TSA staff have been without pay for weeks and missed their first full paycheck on Friday, which led to over 11.5 percent of officers nationwide calling out the next day.
Trump blamed the ‘radical left’ for the shutdown and its impact on airports, saying they had refused to ‘honor the deal that was approved and voted on in Congress.’
Over 300 TSA agents have resigned since the partial shutdown began on January 31, and officials fear that hundreds more could leave if they are forced to go without pay for much longer.
‘Our kids, our families, houses — everything is at stake at this moment,’ one TSA officer told CBS News Atlanta.
‘We are literally drowning in silence, and the world doesn’t even know it.’
The chaos at America’s airports comes as a Canada Air aircraft collided with an airport truck at New York’s LaGuardia on Sunday night, killing two people and injuring at least 41 others.
The tragedy appeared to be the result of low staffing at air traffic control at the airport, an issue that has been plaguing travelers for months.
In response to the crippling TSA shortages, President Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to several major airports on Monday in hopes of easing the massive backlog
Lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were snaked out of the building and into the parking lot on Monday morning
Monster lines have been reported at a number of airports across the nation, with travelers at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (pictured) saying they missed flights despite arriving four hours early
In a statement on Monday morning, JFK Airport officials blamed ‘the federal funding lapse’ for the huge backlogs.
Wait times at the airport had previously been reported at over three hours, but officials said in the update that the airport was no longer giving estimates because ‘wait times are subject to rapid change based on passenger volumes and TSA staffing.’
The deployment of ICE agents to airports has proved controversial following a number of incidents involving the agency in the past year.
Trump acknowledged the controversy in a Truth Social post on Monday, saying he would ‘greatly appreciate NO MASKS when helping our country out of the Democrat caused MESS at the airports.’
