Transportation experts say TSA situation could worsen as call-offs increase amid partial shutdown
Long security lines that leave travelers waiting for hours are becoming the norm at airports across the country.
As the partial government shutdown drags on, officials warn sick calls from Transportation Security Administration officers could force some airports to close. Experts are calling it a "serious situation."
We know that at some airports, several TSA checkpoints shut down altogether on Wednesday due to staffing shortages.
While 50,000 TSA officers are still working without pay, there's also a growing number of sick calls coming in that could lead to even longer lines than we've seen, especially with spring break right around the corner.
A perfect recipe for long, long lines was whipped up by winter storms earlier this week, paired with TSA staffing shortages leading to days of cancelled flights and delays.
Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told CBS News that if problems persist, entire airports could shut down.
"This will get worse. This will not get better," he said.
Closures are more likely to affect smaller airports if they happen. It comes as Republicans and Democrats in Congress are deadlocked over immigration reform, unable to pass a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
"This is really disturbing. I think we're going to see the security personnel have less tolerance this time around. They've lived through it once before," said DePaul University transportation professor Joe Schwieterman.
TSA sick calls have been surging since officers missed a paycheck on Friday due to the month-long partial shutdown.
"There's a lot of sort of fatigue for people in that sector, and I don't feel like there's urgency on the federal government's part. I fear we could be a tough time at quite a few airports, some may even see TSA shutdown," Schwieterman said.
According to the TSA, this Monday saw the most sick calls yet, with over 10% of officers calling out nationwide—five times more than a typical day.
If staffing continues to drop, more TSA screening lanes will close, then eventually entire checkpoints, making lines and wait times even longer.
"It's only about a week or two, we're going to see these volumes really pick up, I mean, spring break is almost upon us, but then in April we see a lot of growth as we head into summer, so this drags out three, four more weeks, we're in for a tough haul," Schwieterman said.
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to have a meeting with airlines on Thursday about cutting down flights here at O'Hare this summer. They're hoping to level things out after some airlines added a bunch of flights to try to dominate this hub.
