Airport Wait Times Worst in History After 480 Officers Leave
A TSA agent looks out at travelers waiting in line at a TSA checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on March 23.
Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/BloombergThe Transportation Security Administration warned that airport security is under severe strain as a weeks-long Department of Homeland Security funding shutdown drives staffing shortages, long wait times and mounting disruptions across the US.
“This has led to the highest wait times in TSA history, with some wait times greater than 4.5 hours,” Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told lawmakers Wednesday, adding the agency has already lost more than 480 transportation security officers during the funding lapse.