By David Shepardson
March 8 (Reuters) - Waiting times in security lines at some U.S. airports extended to three hours on Sunday, as absences by Transportation Security Administration workers rose during a partial government shutdown and as spring-break travel increased.
Houston Hobby Airport at one point on Sunday reported lines averaging 3.5 hours, and at 4 p.m. EDT the wait times averaged three hours.
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport said: "TSA is experiencing a shortage of workers
at the security checkpoint, which is causing longer-than-average lines. Passengers with travel scheduled today are advised to arrive at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure."
TSA said longer-than-average lines were also reported at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina and at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Funding for the Homeland Security Department lapsed on February 13 after Congress failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reforms demanded by Democrats. That halted operational funding for several government agencies, including the TSA, resulting in about 50,000 TSA airport security screeners working without pay.
DHS said on Sunday: "Travelers are facing TSA lines of up to nearly 3 hours long at some major airports, causing missed flights and massive delays during peak travel." The department, part of the Republican Trump administration, criticized Democrats in Congress for refusing to reach a deal to restore funding to the department.
TSA workers "now face their first full missed paycheck, leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages," DHS said.
Last week, groups representing major U.S. airlines and travel groups said the shutdown could disrupt spring-break travel.
Carriers are expecting a record-breaking spring travel period, with 171 million passengers expected to fly, up 4% over the same two-month period last year, said Chris Sununu, CEO of trade association Airlines for America.
"The fear is that, once again, they're not going to act until something really desperate happens, until we get long lines," Sununu said on Thursday.
Spring-break travel will heat up as TSA workers receive their first zero paycheck on March 13, Sununu said.
Ha Nguyen McNeill, the top official at the TSA, told Congress last month that around 1,110 transportation security officers left the TSA in October and November 2025 following a 43-day government shutdown, a more than 25% increase from the same time period in 2024.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Matthew Lewis)
