Long lines, frustrations grow at airports as DHS shutdown strains TSA staffing

William Brangham:

The airport delays tied to the partial government shutdown aren't going away and may be getting worse. Several major airports are seeing long security lines, flight delays, and growing frustration among travelers as TSA workers are not getting paid.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental appear to be some of the worst hit with delays of up to two hours or more. Philadelphia's airport was also very backed up this week.

TSA workers missed their first full paycheck on the shutdown a week ago. And some say they are calling out sick, taking other jobs, or simply quitting altogether because of financial hardships.

Carlos Rodriguez, TSA Officer:

People have to make the hard choices between gas, babysitting money, being able to come to work. It's really difficult right now.

William Brangham:

For more on these workers and their delays, we are joined by The Wall Street Journal's Allison Pohle. She covers the travel and tourism industry.

Allison, thanks so much for being here.

I mentioned Atlanta and Houston are particularly bad right now. Where else are things bad? And how does this compare to, say, a week ago?

Allison Pohle, The Wall Street Journal:

Things have started to get worse across the country.

So we have seen longer delays in Phoenix today, as well as at JFK. So, compared to a week ago, these delays are much longer. We have also seen an increase in the number of people increase in people traveling for spring break. So there are more travelers. It's also a longer period of time that TSA workers have not been paid and where they're coming up on yet another month where rent will be due, utility bills will be due, et cetera.

So we're seeing lines grow across the country.

William Brangham:

Given that all TSA workers are suffering, why is it that we're seeing problems only particularly in some airports and not others? Like, I understand Chicago O'Hare was pretty clear.

Allison Pohle:

That has been the case so far. In certain situations, workers are under different arrangements.

So, in Atlanta, for example, workers have told me that they have to pay for gas, of course, to get to work, but they have also historically had to pay for their parking. When you're not getting paid, those expenses add up. So what the airport has done is stepped in to cover parking for TSA workers during this time.

But even though the situation is the same across most airports, it also does vary. There are some TSA workers who are not federal employees. So some airports, like Kansas City, for example, in San Francisco use private contracting services, where private workers are able to perform the duties of TSA officers, but they're not affected by the shutdown. They are getting paid.

So there are airports that are in different situations.

William Brangham:

I see.

We saw the funding bill in Congress again failed today. Is there any sense of where this goes from here?

Allison Pohle:

It's still an extremely tough battle going forward. So Democrats have introduced legislation that would fund the Homeland Security Department, except for ICE and except for Customs and Border Protection, or it would fund just TSA.

But Republicans have voted those down. They have introduced bills to fund the entire Homeland Security Department, and Democrats have not voted for those. So it's a tough road going forward. On both sides, it seems like no one has moved so far.

And so what I'm hearing from TSA workers is that March 27, next Friday, is the day that Congress is scheduled to go on its two-week recess. That is a make-or-break day for them. If Congress ends up leaving for the recess without reaching a deal, TSA workers say they're not sure they're going to be able to make it into work after that.

William Brangham:

Yes, I can only imagine, if Congress is going off on a break of their own when TSA workers are not being paid, that would be tough to swallow.

You recently spoke with the general manager of Atlanta's airport about all of this. How did he explain how they're trying to get out of this morass?

Allison Pohle:

What they're trying to do is just support workers in ways that they can. So I mentioned the parking earlier. They're also giving the workers one meal voucher per shift. And so that's their way of enticing people to come to work and show them their appreciation for what they're doing.

In terms of getting out of it, I think, unfortunately, it's just going to get a lot tougher. So the week of March 29 is actually the week that most schools go on spring break. About 40 percent of schools across the country are in spring break during that time.

So, at Atlanta, for example, the general manager didn't have the didn't have a full solution. They're just taking it day by day. He did say that, at least in Atlanta, people, though they're waiting in extremely long lines, have been orderly, they understand what's going on and they're appreciative to the workers.

But, of course, it is really tough when you get there three hours early and you still miss your flight.

William Brangham:

That is Allison Pohle of The Wall Street Journal.

Thank you so much for being here.

Allison Pohle:

Thanks for having me.