Delays at major U.S. airports across the country persist as Transportation Security Administration officers continue to work without pay and call-outs mount as the partial government shutdown drags on.
“I think it’s ridiculous they need to open the government back up, it’s time,” Colin McDonald, a traveler at Philadelphia International Airport, said.
Travelers and TSA officers are calling on lawmakers in Washington to end the partial shutdown, which began on Feb. 14, and fund DHS.
“Get it passed. Work together. Come together so that we can continue to pay our people and care for the folks who keep our nation running,” said Corinne Gunter, who was at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The staffing shortages have led to long wait times for flyers. As of early Friday afternoon, wait times of 120 minutes were reported at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport reported an 80-minute wait time at its main checkpoint around 10:30 a.m. Friday. By early afternoon its main checkpoint wait was more than 65 minutes and 45 minutes at its north checkpoint.
TSA said more than 10% of officers called out nationwide on Wednesday. In Atlanta and Houston, callout rates were as high as 38%.
The staffing shortages also forced some security checkpoints to shut down in Houston and Philadelphia on Thursday.
Last week, TSA employees missed their first full paycheck. More than 300 TSA employees have left the agency since the start of the DHS shutdown.
“We’re not Republicans. We’re not Democrats. We’re not Independents. We’re just people who come to work every day to do our job,” said Sharod Green, a TSA officer at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Lawmakers on partial shutdown
Republicans and Democrats in Congress remain divided over immigration reform – the source behind a funding lapse for DHS.
Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, said on Capitol Hill, “We should fund TSA and I support that right away and we should separate out the area where we have a real dispute, and that’s on ICE.”
While returning home from D.C., Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia told CBS News, “It’s time to fund this agency, especially when we’ve got an armed conflict going on in the Middle East.”
A group of senators met with border czar Tom Homan on Thursday as negotiations continue.