Philadelphia International Airport announced Wednesday that it will temporarily close two Transportation Security Administration checkpoints due to ongoing TSA staffing shortages.
TSA workers, who lost their first full pay over the weekend due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, are the latest major American airport to cut security checkpoints as more go AWOL.
The announcement to close TSA checkpoints at Terminals A-West and F came a week after the Philadelphia airport shut down the Terminal C checkpoint on Thursday, creating disruption and long delays for thousands of travelers trying to catch their flights.
As of Wednesday afternoon, TSA checkpoints in Terminals A-West and C had already closed, with wait times at the remaining TSA checkpoints at the Philadelphia airport ranging from two to 22 minutes, according to the PHL website.
TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told NBC News on Monday that wait times at security checkpoints can vary from day to day depending on how many workers show up for work at US airports.
For example, at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Monday morning, wait times to get through TSA security ranged from three minutes to 45 minutes, according to the IAH website.
At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, one of the nation’s busiest airports, the airline’s airport website is reporting TSA security checkpoint wait times of 10 to 25 minutes Wednesday afternoon, but the website says those wait times can fluctuate and passengers are urged to “arrive 2-3 hours prior to departure.”
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, currently locked in a competitive Republican runoff for his Senate seat, on Monday introduced a bill called “End Congressional Special Treatment at Airports,” which would take aim at the congressional travel perk.
If passed, it would stop members of Congress from receiving “courtesy escort” or preferential treatment when going through TSA security at airports.
While most TSA workers are considered essential workers and are required to show up even if they are unpaid, the agency reported that the number of unauthorized callouts at many major airports across the country has doubled since the Homeland Security Department shutdown last month.
At least 366 fed-up TSA workers have already quit for reduced pay or no pay, according to DHS.
Over the weekend, there was a spike in reported TSA staffing issues.
DHS has reported more than 100 incidents where shortages at US airports threatened “operational integrity” and thousands of travelers trying to get through TSA security had to wait more than an hour.
Hardest hit was Houston Hobby International Airport, which reported a 55% callout rate on Saturday.
That, according to DHS, is the highest TSA worker callout percentage since the agency’s funding expired on Feb. 13.
The crisis arose after lawmakers locked horns over the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, most of which are enforced by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
Democrats, angered by the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis by federal agents, are seeking reforms to regulate those agencies before they approve funding. But Republicans and the White House insist changes have already been made in response to the killings.
The outage has triggered a partial shutdown of the department, which also affects the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard. The shutdown will not affect ICE or the administration’s other immigration enforcement operations.
