The government shutdown is affecting thousands of federal employees, immigration cases, national parks, and now the safety and efficiency of air travel.
CNN reported that hundreds of Transportation Security Administration officers are calling out of work after being required to work without paychecks. Significant call outs have occurred at about four major airports, affecting the security of air travel.
"This will definitely affect the flying public who we (are) sworn to protect," Hydrick Thomas, president of the national TSA employee union, told CNN.
TSA spokesman Michael Bilello said the agency is "closely monitoring the situation" and that "screening wait times remain well within TSA standards." That is for now-if TSA agents continue to call out, we could see longer wait times.
Thomas told CNN that 170 TSA employees called in every day this week at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, requiring morning shift employees to work extra hours to cover the gaps.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport saw call outs increasing by 200-300%, why North Carolina airports, including Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, have experienced 10% higher TSA call outs.
Mac Johnson, the North Carolina union president said, "That number will get worse as this drags on."
All of this is resulting in tired employees receiving no pay working longer shifts and increased risk of security threats. The call outs are "creating a vulnerability" and screeners are "doing more with less," Johnson said.
Officials say that these TSA call outs are not part of an organized strike, but that they will most likely to continue to increase if lawmakers and Trump don't end the government shutdown.
"This problem of call outs is really going to explode over the next week or two when employees miss their first paycheck," a union official at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport told CNN. "TSA officers are telling the union they will find another way to make money. That means calling out to work other jobs."
Union officials said that many of the callouts aren't in protest of the government shutdown but for practical reasons. Without a paycheck, TSA employees are forced to look for cash-paying jobs outside of the government. Some TSA employees are parents who can't afford childcare, or even the basic necessities of rent, food, or bills.
"TSA is grateful to the agents who show up to work, remain focused on the mission and respectful to the traveling public as they continue the important work necessary to secure the nation's transportation systems," Bilello told CNN.
"Call outs began over the Holiday period and have increased but are causing minimal impact given there are 51,739 employees supporting the screening process. Security effectiveness will not be compromised and performance standards will not change."
"Wait times may be affected depending on the number of call outs," Bilello said.
Though Bilello claims that security effectiveness will not be compromised with TSA call outs, that may not be the case, especially for airports to continue to function.
"How are they filling the void?" said one veteran TSA official. "If you're not seeing long wait times at airports, there's something on the security side they're not doing."
Officials say there may be fewer random pat down security checks or that passengers who have not been vetted for the PreCheck program will receive expedited screening. There could even be looser standards for examining checked baggage for bombs. Eventually, it leads back to longer wait times as the number of lanes will most likely be reduced.
CNN reports that there is no proof of these measures being implemented or would be necessary, but that officials may soon be faced with these decisions.
Both TSA and the Department of Homeland Security have been without funding since December 22nd, but officials say they'll eventually be compensated.
"We've never had a situation where officers did not get paid," TSA Administrator David Pekoske told reporters at a Washington-area airport.
Not all were happy with CNN's report. DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton tweeted a scathing retweet at CNN, saying that the call out numbers were "misrepresented." Houlton didn't offer any other numbers to refute CNN's claims.
While Houlton said that, "Security operations at airports have not been impacted by a non-existent sick out," this isn't entirely true according to union officials or Bilello whom CNN did contact. The New York Times reported that 150 call outs occurred on Friday at JFK airport, and they received their information from local union officials.
Furthermore, many officials are in accordance that if these callouts haven't affected operations yet, it will eventually if the shutdown doesn't end.
Trump and lawmakers met Friday at the White House and left with no indication that the shutdown would be resolved anytime soon. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quoted Trump as saying that the shutdown could last for months or even years.
If travel safety and effectiveness are of importance to lawmakers or the president, the shutdown cannot afford to last much longer.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
