With spring break in full swing, airline passengers continued to wait it out at major U.S. airports after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pay Transportation Security Administration officers aimed at alleviating long security lines.
Trump’s executive order on Friday instructed the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA officers immediately, although it’s unclear when the impact of that move will start to be felt at airports. The signing came at a busy travel time of the year, with spring breaks at school districts and colleges and the upcoming Passover and Easter holidays.
Tens of thousands of TSA employees have been working without pay since funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed on Valentine’s Day. The shutdown of Homeland Security reached 44 days on Sunday, eclipsing the record 43-day shutdown last fall that affected all of the federal government.
What’s the current situation on the ground?
Some of the busiest airports in the United States continued to ask travelers to arrive hours before their departure time in order to get through security lines.
Baltimore-Washington International Airport, for example, said Sunday that checkpoint wait times had improved from Saturday but “remain longer than normal.” The airport continued to recommend passengers show up several hours early, along with airports such as Atlanta’s Hartsfield—Jackson International Airport in Georgia and Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a post on X Saturday evening that more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were also being deployed to BWI to assist at TSA security checkpoints to “speed up the clearance process for passengers — not immigration enforcement.”
When will TSA employees be paid?
White House border czar Tom Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he hopes Transportation Security Administration agents will be paid by Monday or Tuesday, as a partial government shutdown continues to wreak havoc on the nation’s airports.
“It’s good news because these TSA officers are struggling,” Homan said. “They can’t feed their families or pay their rent. Your heart goes out to them because they’re sitting there right now, working very hard and not being paid by members of the Congress who are on vacation and getting paid. It’s ridiculous.”
Asked if the deployment of ICE agents at airports will end once TSA officers get paid, Homan said it depends on how many TSA employees would be returning to work.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport said Sunday on X that backpay could arrive for its 600 local TSA workers beginning Monday.
“While this action provides critical relief, CLT supports long-term solutions to ensure continued stability for this essential workforce,” the airport said.
How soon will this help with airport delays?
It’s hard to tell.
Caleb Harmon-Marshall, a former TSA officer who runs a travel newsletter called Gate Access, said the staffing crisis won’t improve significantly until officers are confident that they won’t be subjected to more skipped paychecks.
“It has to be an extended pay for them to come back or want to stay there,” he said, estimating longer lines could linger for another week or two.
TSA will also have to decide whether to reopen checkpoints or expedite service lanes they closed or consolidated at airports due to inadequate staffing, which led to passengers standing in screening lines that clogged check-in areas or showing up far too early for their flights.
A handful of airports have experienced daily TSA officer call-out rates of 40% or higher. Nationwide on Thursday, more than 11.8% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, the most so far, DHS said Friday.
Nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 officers have quit since the shutdown started, according to DHS.
How do I monitor wait times before my flight?
Check airport conditions early and often, including on official airport websites and social media accounts, according to experts.
Many airports on Saturday urged passengers to allow at least four hours for both domestic and international screenings.
“Security wait times are significantly longer than normal and can change quickly,” according to an advisory posted Sunday on the website of LaGuardia Airport.
Wait times listed on the MyTSA mobile app may not be accurate because TSA isn’t actively managing its sites during the shutdown. On third-party websites that track TSA lines, estimated wait times could be outdated during the shutdown if they rely on publicly available data, experts say.