Thanks to the shutdown, travelers are seeing long security lines, and some TSA workers, who typically make very little, are struggling to pay their bills.
The security lines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport took more than an hour to get through on Monday morning. Some security checkpoints and ticket counters in Houston’s George Bush International Airport were shut down Sunday, and still haven’t reopened. Similar scenes have taken place in Miami and Washington, D. C.
As the partial government shutdown enters its fourth week, the nation’s airports and the furloughed federal workers who make them run are feeling the effects more than most. And many are responding by not coming to work. According to TSA spokesman Michael Bilello, 7.6 percent of TSA agents were out on Monday on unscheduled absences. That’s more than double the 3.2 percent who missed the same day last year.
“We don’t believe the current situation is sustainable. We’re advocating for other solutions to make sure that TSA agents get paid,” Christopher Bidwell, of the trade group Airports Council International-North America, told Bloomberg. As “essential” government employees, TSA agents are required to work during the shutdown, even though they won’t be paid until the government reopens.
