The American aviation system is staring down a massive operational collapse. After more than a month of the federal government shutdown, top officials are now sounding the alarm that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may have to shutter entire terminals or airports as staffing levels plummet.
Adam Stahl, the acting deputy administrator of the TSA, was direct about the gravity of the situation during a Tuesday morning interview on “FOX & Friends.”
He explained that while the agency has tried to shuffle resources to keep gates open, the safety net is gone.
“Frankly, there’s not much else we can do,” he said. Stahl warned that if the funding lapse continues, “it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones.”
The situation has reached a critical stage because the National Deployment Office, the internal team responsible for sending emergency relief staff to overwhelmed airports, is now “fully depleted.”
The timing could not be worse. The US Travel Association is currently tracking a record-breaking spring break season, with an estimated 171 million people expected to fly during March and April. While some travelers in cities like Las Vegas or Los Angeles have reported relatively normal wait times, the experience at other major hubs has turned into a nightmare.
At the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta, as well as New York-JFK and Houston Hobby, call-out rates have hit 21%. This has resulted in security lines that snake out of the main terminals and into parking garages, with some passengers waiting over three hours just to reach a scanner.
The mass absences are a direct result of the financial strain on the 50,000 agents who have been working without pay since DHS funding expired on February 14. This past weekend, these “essential” employees received paychecks for $0. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that 366 officers have already resigned since the shutdown began, citing the “severe operational strain” on their families.
In a rare move of unity, CEOs from major carriers like Delta, Southwest, and FedEx have sent a joint letter to Congress. They are pushing for new laws to ensure that security, customs, and air traffic control staff are never again subjected to the fallout of a government shutdown.
As the DHS stated in a recent release, “These numbers illustrate the severe operational strain caused by the shutdown, underscoring the urgent need for resolution to restore stability, morale, and security at America’s airports. TSA funding must be restored immediately.
