USA. The aviation industry is today feeling more acutely the impact of the longest government shutdown in American history, as hundreds of vital security employees called in sick after going unpaid on Friday.
The world’s busiest airport, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, warned that it was struggling and understaffed and asked departing passengers to arrive three hours before their flights leave.
Hundreds of workers for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the government agency responsible for maintaining security in airports, have called in sick since the shutdown began four weeks ago, according to widespread reports.
A video posted on Twitter by a CNN reporter at Hartsfield-Jackson went viral yesterday after it showed a large number of passengers queuing. The reporter, Omar Jimenez, said it “may be the longest security line I have seen”.
So I’m at @ATLairport and this may be the longest security line I have ever seen. Even growing up here, and even for a Monday morning. One passenger told me he’d been waiting over an hour and still had about 30 minutes to go. pic.twitter.com/UL7EghujQI
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) January 14, 2019
A spokesman for the TSA said that as well as Hartsfield-Jackson, Miami International, Houston George Bush Intercontinental and Washington Dulles International were “exercising their contingency plans”.
At Houston, a security checkpoint was closed amid the staffing issues.
A spokesman for Miami International said yesterday that the airport’s TSA employees were calling in sick at double the normal rate. Up to 170 TSA officers have also called in sick at New York John F Kennedy International, while sick rates at Dallas-Fort Worth International have risen 200%-300% during the shutdown, according to National TSA Employee Union President Hydrick Thomas.
The TSA’s 55,000 employees work to screen about 800 million passengers a year. They are among the 420,000 federal workers deemed essential and expected to continue working without pay during any shutdown.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union representing 14,000 air traffic controllers, separately sued the Trump administration on Friday over its members’ frozen pay.
About a quarter of the US government, including TSA and the Department of Homeland Security, has gone without funding since 22 December.
Despite the rules that require them to continue working without pay, hundreds of TSA employees have called in sick and many are thought to have taken temporary jobs elsewhere to make ends meet.
Previous shutdowns have not lasted so long that TSA employees went unpaid.
The shutdown arose 25 days ago when Democrats rejected Republican President Donald Trump’s demand for Congress to grant US$5.6 billion (£4.4 billion) in federal funds to build a US-Mexico border wall.
The Democrats argue that Trump repeatedly insisted Mexico would pay for the wall during his presidential campaign.
Trump has has been quoted as saying the shutdown could last for months or years unless funding for the wall is granted.
