Travelers at a Houston airport voiced shock and disbelief over seemingly endless TSA security lines caused by a severe staffing shortage.
“This is insane,” one traveler said. “This is the first time I’ve experienced something like this in my entire life,” said another.
The line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport snakedunderground, across terminals and even outside as 36% of TSA officers there called out of work amid a partial government shutdown that has frozen their paychecks.
Among those spotted in the security line Wednesday morning was former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, waiting for two hours and counting.
Nay Dedrick of Boston said she missed her flight after waiting “6 to 8 hours” on Monday in the long security line in Houston, so she slept at the airport and tried again the next day, finally arriving home Tuesday afternoon.
“TSA was only 2 people working,” she told CBS News Boston. “The line started downstairs and went all the way down to the basement, and then it goes all the way back up to the third floor.”
Some travelers said they don’t blame TSA officers for the substantial wait times, but instead blame the government, which is deadlocked over funding.
Talks are ongoing among lawmakers to restart funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both TSA and ICE. Senate Republicans on Tuesday sent a proposal to Democrats that would fund most of the department, except for ICE’s deportation division.
Democrats, however, have so far refused to strike a deal without reforms to the agency’s immigration enforcement operations.
“We need strong, strong reforms, and we need to rein in ICE,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at the Capitol.
Amid the deadlock, the Trump administration has deployed ICEofficers and other Homeland Security agents to 14 of the nation’s airports to help shuttle passengers through overcrowded TSA checkpoints.
“It’s unconscionable that our politicians haven’t gotten this done, and then we have security agents that are not being paid and they’re still showing up, and kudos to them for doing that,” United CEO Scott Kirby told CBS News.
“It gets worse every day as it goes by,” he said. “But the crazy thing about this is that … that’s what causes our politicians to get it done. Like, it’s just ridiculous to me, that it has to get bad before they can get a deal done.”
“But please, get the deal done soon,” he urged lawmakers.
Long security lines aren’t the only frustration for fliers. Kirby said higher oil prices as a result of the Iran war are forcing his airline to cut about 5% of flights this summer and raise the price people pay for airline tickets.
“Airfares are up probably 15 to 20% in the last month,” he said, noting that the hikes don’t fully cover the higher cost of fuel.
He said, however, that summer is still “booking really well, and demand is the strongest it’s been ever.”
In:
- Houston
- Transportation Security Administration