This better stop before I travel to Italy and Poland in May and June. (I’ll be gone for two weeks, but the blog will survive!)
Security lines remain a mess, with travelers facing even longer wait times at TSA checkpoints as the Democratic DHS shutdown continues.
“As TSA officers are facing a $0 paycheck this week, we are seeing firsthand the significant strains that the current DHS shutdown is causing across the aviation system,” stated A4A President and CEO Chris Sununu. “TSA lines are two and three hours long at some airports, causing flights to be delayed and passengers to miss flights.”
Spring break travel should be fun.
“We are in spring break travel season and expecting record numbers of people to take to the skies,” continued Sununu. “Airlines have done their part to prepare; now Congress and the administration must act with urgency to reach a deal that reopens DHS and ends this shutdown. America’s transportation security workforce is too important to be used as political leverage.”
The New Orleans Airport advised travelers to arrive 3 hours before their departure time.
“These political stunts force patriotic TSA officers, who protect our skies from serious threats, to work without pay,” said DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis. “These frontline heroes received only partial paychecks earlier this month and now face their first full missed paycheck, leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages.”
DHS stopped receiving funding on February 13 after Democrats threw a fit about reforms for ICE and Customs and Border Protection.
However, the partial shutdown hasn’t affected ICE or CBP because Congress already allocated those funds.
The partial shutdown has hit TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard.
Hobby Airport in Houston encouraged flyers to arrive four to five hours before their flight.
“The shutdown is having very real consequences, and hardworking federal aviation workers, the airline industry and our passengers are being used as a political football once again,” added Sununu. “This is simply unacceptable and un-American.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY