Geoff Freeman from the U.S. Travel Association warns of longer TSA lines and flight issues if the shutdown continues.
If a U.S. government shutdown goes on long enough, it could throw a wrench in travel plans, potentially leading to longer airport wait times, flight delays and even cancellations.
The shutdown began Wednesday after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to reach a deal to continue funding government services and operations. That means a vast majority of employees who keep U.S. airports and air travel running are working without pay until the government reopens.
“The longer a shutdown drags on, the more likely we are to see longer TSA lines, flight delays and cancellations, national parks in disrepair and unnecessary delays in modernizing travel infrastructure,” Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, warned in a statement.
Here’s what to know about the shutdown and its potential impacts on your travel plans.
Travelers can still fly despite the lapse in funding, and early on in the shutdown, they might not even notice any issues at the airport.
Control towers and airport security checkpoints will still be staffed, with about 13,200 air traffic controllers and more than 61,000 Transportation Security Administration employees expected to remain on the job.
But as more time passes for the workers since their last paycheck, travelers could start to see longer lines at security and flight interruptions, said Jeffrey Price, professor of aviation at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.
“The system does become a little bit more brittle, the longer this goes, the more the traveler is going to notice it,” Price said.
That’s what happened in 2018 and 2019, when Trump led the country into its longest shutdown ever for 35 days during his first term.
About three weeks into that shutdown, some unpaid security screeners started calling in sick, and air traffic controllers sued the government in a bid to get their paychecks.
