Airport Travelers Demand TSA Workers Get Paid as Security Lines Grow Longer

Passengers at Atlanta's busy airport are arriving up to four hours early due to extended TSA checkpoint delays caused by the government shutdown. TSA officers haven't received paychecks since February 14, leading to staffing shortages and longer wait times nationwide.

ATLANTA (AP) — Airport travelers passing through one of the nation’s busiest transportation hubs shared a common message Saturday: it’s time to compensate Transportation Security Administration workers.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which handles millions of passengers annually, the ongoing government shutdown is creating bottlenecks at security screening areas where staff check travelers and their belongings for dangerous materials.

Concerned about potential delays that might cause them to miss their flights, numerous travelers are now showing up as much as four hours ahead of their scheduled departures.

Christian Childress, who works as a private flight attendant, has an inside view of the aviation industry. The Redwood City, California, man typically bypasses TSA security when on duty, but regularly goes through standard screening when taking commercial flights to reach his assignments. Saturday found him traveling to Nashville, Tennessee, for personal reasons.

Arriving nearly three hours before his 1:30 p.m. departure, Childress described the shutdown’s impact as inconsistent so far.

“Issue No. 1 should be paying the people who need to get paid and keeping our air travel system secure,” Childress said. “Then they can debate whatever they want to debate about homeland security.”

Transportation Security Administration workers have gone without paychecks since the Department of Homeland Security experienced a partial closure on February 14. Democratic lawmakers have refused to approve funding for the agency while other government departments continue operating normally, seeking modifications to immigration enforcement practices by federal agents after Alex Pretti and Renee Good were fatally shot in Minneapolis.

However, growing worries about extended airport delays are drawing increased public attention.

Senate lawmakers failed to move forward with a funding proposal Friday when Democrats withheld necessary support. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate from New York, announced plans to present an alternative bill Saturday focused solely on TSA funding. This measure also faces likely defeat as Congress holds an unusual weekend session.

Several travelers expressed frustration with Democratic lawmakers’ approach to the shutdown.

“I don’t want to go between the Democrats and the Republicans, but I think the Democrats are holding everything up because they can’t get their way,” said Tyrone Williams, a retiree from Ellenwood, an Atlanta suburb. He was waiting in the screening line before his Saturday flight to Philadelphia.

President Donald Trump issued a warning Saturday, threatening to deploy federal immigration enforcement agents for airport security duties unless Democratic congressional members agree to fund the department.

Through a social media message, Trump stated Democrats must reach an immediate agreement or he “will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before.”

The president indicated Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel would detain “all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country” with particular attention to individuals from Somalia.

Trump provided no additional details, and officials have not confirmed whether any immediate plans exist to station ICE agents at airports.

Wait times at Atlanta’s security checkpoints reached as long as 90 minutes during early Saturday hours before improving to approximately 25 minutes by mid-morning on what typically represents one of the week’s lightest travel days. Personnel shortages have compelled airports to temporarily shut down screening areas, causing dramatic fluctuations in waiting periods in Atlanta and other major cities.

Jackie Donahue from Oldsmar, Florida, joined the checkpoint line at 11 a.m. for her 2:25 p.m. flight home to Tampa on Saturday. She expressed appreciation for TSA workers continuing their duties despite missing their pay.

“We need to thank the people that are here,” said Donahue, a nurse completing her return journey from a European river cruise.

Most TSA personnel are classified as essential workers and must continue their responsibilities without compensation during the government funding gap. The Department of Homeland Security has indicated approximately 50,000 TSA staff members would remain on duty throughout the shutdown. National data from Thursday showed about 10% of TSA officers were absent from work, with some locations reporting absence rates two to three times higher.

Labor representatives and government officials report TSA employees are experiencing significant financial strain. Airport security personnel have worked nearly half of the previous 171 days with politically-delayed paychecks — including 43 days during last fall’s record-breaking government shutdown, four days from an earlier brief funding interruption this year, and now 36 days into the current shutdown.

At least 376 officers have resigned since this shutdown started, according to official reports, worsening staff turnover at an agency already known for having among the federal government’s highest employee departure rates and lowest workplace satisfaction scores.