ATLANTA – Long security lines snaked through the domestic terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday, frustrating some weary travelers as they waited to reach their checkpoints.
The crowds formed just days after TSA agents lost their first full paycheck as the Department of Homeland Security remains underfunded.
At the Atlanta airport, travelers formed parallel lines as they passed through security at the domestic terminal. A digital sign showed wait times ranging from four minutes for TSA PreCheck passengers to more than an hour at the main checkpoint.
Despite the long lines and the exhausted faces of those waiting in them, most seemed calm. Hartsfield-Jackson is one of Delta Air Lines’ travel hubs and is among the busiest airports in the country.
Laronda Monteiro, who lives in Atlanta, arrived three hours early for her flight to New Orleans and told NBC News it was worth it while waiting in line.
“I know we have to be safe and I appreciate those who are still in TSA and staying on the job,” Monteiro said. “I can wait for safety and security.”
Morgan Young, traveling back to Washington, said she “doesn’t love” the travel disruptions while waiting in the TSA line. Young normally flies using CLEAR, a private security program that costs about $200 per person, but that option was not available Sunday.
“Honestly, it’s stressful,” Young said. “I feel like the Atlanta airport is doing the best it can, but it’s definitely stressful. And even more stressful for the people who aren’t paid and are at work.”
It was disappointing for Ezer Gill, who waited through security to return home to Fort Lauderdale. He said it was disturbing to see people suffering while the government remained deadlocked.
“Air travel is an essential part of how our country operates, and if we can’t get where we need to go, it will affect a lot of people,” Gill said. “I’ve heard it’s affecting me and a lot of other people.”
Democratic lawmakers have delayed Republican efforts to pass a new bill to fund DHS after raising serious concerns about how the troubled agency has handled immigration enforcement. Funding for DHS expired on Feb. 13, and Democrats are insisting on reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection before passing a new appropriations bill.
TSA workers are considered essential employees who must continue to work without pay. They received partial paychecks after the shutdown and missed their first full paycheck on Friday.
According to the agency, more than 300 TSA employees have resigned since February.
Scenes similar to those in Atlanta were captured at airports in Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Austin and Chicago.
Videos shared online showed long waits at airports in the country’s major cities. A traveler at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas posted a video on TikTok of a winding queue at 2 a.m. and advised others to arrive hours early for their flights.
The sign said he arrived four hours early and still missed his 2:30 am flight. Some commentators said the situation improved on Sunday morning.
That experience appears to match reports from the Austin airport, which has been posting updates on its social media. According to messages from the airport on X, the queues were “very long” in the early hours of Sunday, but had decreased a few hours later.
Another person posted a video Sunday morning from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport that showed a line looping back on itself at least three times depending on your point of view. The person who posted it wrote in the comments that it took about two hours to get through security.
The TSA acknowledged the long wait times in a social media post Saturday, urging Democrats to end the partial shutdown.
“A zero-dollar paycheck for those who continue to serve,” the agency wrote in X. “Enough is enough. No more playing politics with American lives.”
A DHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on Sunday.
Anthony Riley, 58, continued working at Syracuse’s Hancock International Airport during the shutdown, but he worries he will soon be homeless if nothing changes. He told NBC News last week that he lost his car during the government shutdown last year and has no savings to fall back on.
“The problem is that my credit rating was ruined by the last government shutdown when I was working and not getting paid,” Riley said.
Riley has three teenage children and his wife, Keya, is waiting for a kidney donation. Without reliable transportation, he worries about how they would get to Rochester if an organ were available.
While Riley says he’s horrified by the violent incidents he’s seen during immigration enforcement, he’s not sure how much longer he can go without a paycheck.
He has been working with a Legal Aid attorney to avoid eviction and hopes to work out a rent payment plan at a hearing later this month.
“But my lawyer told us to be prepared to leave in 30 days if it doesn’t work out,” Riley said. “Right now, I’m doing everything I can to keep my family from being thrown out onto the streets.”
Aaron Gilchrist and Dan Gallo reported from Atlanta. Doha Madani reported from New York City.
