A record number of airport security screeners, who are working unpaid amid a partial government shutdown, called out sick on Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Monday.
Donald Trump offered some legal protections for undocumented immigrants in exchange for funding for his proposed border wall in order to end the shutdown, but Democrats rejected the proposal. It suggests the impasse is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, and could worsen the strains at airports.
The shutdown, now in its 31st day and the longest ever, has been playing out across the U.S. travel industry, where staffing shortages have led to longer airport security lines and delays in government approval for new aircraft and routes.
Gregory declined to say how many officers it was sending to other airports, but told CNBC in an email that “there are limited resources available, and our ability to reinforce airports with National Deployment Officers is becoming more difficult.”
These officers are usually sent in to help cover at airports if local screeners’ homes are hit by natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires, Gregory added.
Still, most security wait times are within TSA standards. Nearly all of the 1.78 million people TSA screened on Sunday waited less than 30 minutes on Sunday, though some airports reported longer than usual wait times, the agency said Monday.
A shortage of screeners due to “excessive callouts” prompted the closure of a security checkpoint at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Saturday afternoon, according to the agency. The weekend’s main travel headaches came from a powerful winter storm that grounded more than 2,000 flights.
Some furloughed government employees have been ordered to report back to work, even though they are still not receiving paychecks. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was calling back to work more than 3,000 aviation inspectors and engineers.
Airports, airlines and local businesses have been offering free meals to the unpaid TSA officers and other government employees working without a paycheck. Local community members have shown up at some airports with food and other donations. American Airlines‘ credit union is offering 1 percent loans of $1,200 or the amount of a single net paycheck to airport security workers.
—CNBC’s Angelica Lavito contributed to this report.
Source:CNBC
