Across the country, travelers are getting to the airport hours before their flights and still facing heavy delays or even fully missing their flights. This is due to TSA being incredibly understaffed and for a period of time not even getting paid. TSA has always been a hassle for travelers, especially with prominent airports like JFK, ATL, or LAX, but it has reached an extreme level and become one of the most stressful parts of travel.
One of the main reasons for this issue is because of a government shutdown. Since TSA workers are considered essential personnel, they are required to work even if they are not being paid. There has also been a shortage of staff because this is the second time in the last year this has happened, which has created a sense of financial instability for TSA employees causing them to quit, and there has also been a high callout rate. According to an article by NBC News published on March 21st, “John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City had a callout rate of 29.5% on Friday”.
This is negatively impacting travelers everywhere. The effects of this are hard to manage, like the unpredictable lines. TSA lines have been wrapping around terminals, going outside, and taking hours upon hours to get through. This can be incredibly taxing and even stressful for families with small children, people traveling for business/school, or other events. Junior Katie Toso recently traveled for a volleyball tournament but had a connecting flight in Atlanta. She was there while TSA was not getting paid. She said, “It was absolutely insane, I had to wait in lines for almost two hours and barely got to my terminal on time” and “It added a lot of stress because I thought I was going to miss my flight”.
It is also just a major inconvenience for anybody traveling. According to Bankrate, the average price of an airline ticket for domestic travel in the United States ranges from $273.31 to $472.97 per person. That doesn’t even include fees for parking, checked bags, wifi, food and beverage, and other amenities offered by airlines. Even if someone is just traveling for leisure, the travel is a huge chunk of the total cost and the unpredictability that comes with air travel is a lot to deal with as a traveler.
TSA used to be a manageable inconvenience when traveling, but it has gotten out of control, specifically in major domestic and international airports. TSA officers are supposed to start receiving pay soon, so that should help reduce some of these stresses, but it is unclear how they will make up for the loss of employees going forward. Currently there are Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers that have come in to make up for a lack of employees, but this is not a rational long-term solution. There needs to be better precautions and efforts put into place to provide financial protection and stability for all government workers who do not get paid during government shutdowns.