The United States is a hot mess right now.
There are a number of things going dreadfully awry in this country, but for sanity’s sake, let’s just focus on what the ongoing government shutdown means for travel.
Really, it means the TSA is a hot mess too.
Not surprisingly, a lack of paychecks thanks to what has become the longest government shutdown in history, has spawned a lack of interest in working. So TSA workers are calling in sick, tapping into vacation days or taking their cool time when they are at work toiling sans pay. (Because Transportation Security Administration agents are considered “essential” employees, they are required to work whether they’re receiving a paycheck or not, lest they those their jobs).
Airlines are privately owned and, therefore, won’t be shutting down. As long as they have air traffic controllers to direct their planes in and out, but more on that later.
This all means security lines are longer than their already long lengths, and security measures don’t seem to be all the way in force—which might explain why a Delta Airlines passenger got through security in Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and onto a Tokyo flight with a gun they “forgot” to remove from their carry on bag.
Essentially, the airport is a crazier crazy place than it normally is. And traveling stepped up a notch on the annoying scale.
Here’s what you need to know to deal with it.
You might want to get to the airport earlier
An update from TSA Sunday said 99.9 percent of travelers made it through security lines in the standard 30 minutes or less, though some waited upward of 40 minutes. But what the TSA claims in official statements and what’s happening IRL might be two different things. How long you’ll wait depends on the airport and the time of day, as usual, but with 8 percent of TSA staff absent on Sunday (which means about 4,080 people who were supposed to be at work just weren’t, and that’s nearly triple the normal number), tardiness on your part won’t be a good look right now.
Some security lines, or entire terminals, may be shut down
With fewer TSA workers, some airports are shutting whatever they can’t populate with enough staff. In Atlanta last week, as many as six security lanes were closed. I don’t know how many lanes there were in total, but I know what six lanes looks like and that sounds like major bottleneck vibes. At Houston Bush Intercontinental, one terminal was almost entirely shuttered, with the check-in ticket counter closed and no security lanes available thanks to a lack of staff, so passengers had to be routed to other terminals. You’ll need to allow ample time for unforeseen nonsense.
TSA Pre-Check might not work in your favor
Those of us who’ve gotten on that Global Entry tip or who have gotten lucky with that random but beloved tick at the top of our boarding pass, may not be gloating as we glide by the rest of the un-savvy travelers in the regular people line. Security staff shortages could also mean a lightly used Pre-Check line could be first to be closed off.
Your flight probably won’t be late or canceled
For now, it seems the debacle on the Hill hasn’t caused rampant flight delays or cancellations, so you should be good to go there. At least for the moment. It may come down to what happens next with air traffic controllers, though. They are also considered essential employees and have had to report to work, but if more of them start calling in sick, likely trying to figure out how/where else to make money to, you know, live/eat/pay rent/feed their families, there’ll be fewer people to direct the planes, which will likely mean fewer planes are going anywhere.
Hopefully you’re not planning to fly through Atlanta for or during the Super Bowl (Feb. 3) when more visitors and less TSA staff will likely be a recipe for a travel situation I’d want no parts of.