Travel problems are growing for Philadelphia fliers as the TSA closes additional security checkpoints
Philadelphia International Airport announced Wednesday that it will temporarily close two additional Transportation Management checkpoints due to ongoing TSA staffing shortages.
This is the latest major US airport to reduce security checkpoints as TSA workers, who missed their first paycheck over the weekend due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, have gone AWOL.
The announcement of the closure of TSA checkpoints at Terminals A-West and F came less than a week after Philadelphia Airport closed its Terminal C checkpoint on Thursday, creating bottlenecks and long delays for thousands of travelers trying to catch their flights.
As of noon Wednesday, with TSA checkpoints at Terminals A-West and C already closed, wait times at the remaining TSA checkpoints at the Philadelphia airport ranged from two to 22 minutes, according to the PHL website.
TSA Director Adam Stahl told NBC News on Monday that wait times at security checkpoints can vary from day to day at US airports depending on how many employees show up for work.
For example, at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Monday morning, TSA security check-in wait times ranged from three to 45 minutes, according to the IAH website.
At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country, the Airline Airport website was reporting TSA wait times of 10 to 25 minutes Wednesday afternoon but the website notes that those wait times are subject to change and travelers are urged to “arrive 2-3 hours prior to departure.”
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, currently locked in a Republican race for his Senate seat, introduced a bill on Monday called the “End Special Treatment for Congress at Airports Act” that aims to get a Congressional travel perk.
If passed, it would bar members of Congress from receiving “honorable escorts” or special treatment when going through TSA security at airports.
Although most TSA employees are considered essential workers and are required to be visible even without pay, the number of unplanned callouts has doubled at several key airports across the country since the Department of Homeland Security shutdown began last month, the agency reported.
At least 366 fed-up TSA employees have already quit instead of working for reduced pay or no pay at all, according to DHS.
Over the weekend, there was an increase in reported problems for TSA employees.
DHS reported more than 100 incidents in which shortages threatened “operational integrity” at US airports and caused waits of more than an hour for thousands of travelers trying to clear TSA security.
Hardest hit was Houston Hobby International Airport, which reported a 55% call rate on Saturday.
That, according to DHS, was the highest percentage of calls to TSA workers since the agency’s funding expired on Feb. 13.
The crisis erupted after lawmakers slammed the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, most of which have been enforced by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
Democrats, outraged by the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis by federal agents, are seeking reforms to regulate those organizations before approving funding. But Republicans and the White House have insisted that changes have already been made regarding the killings.
The intrusion caused a partial shutdown of the port, which also affected the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard. The shutdown does not affect ICE or other immigration enforcement operations.
