More than 300 TSA officers have quit since the Department of Homeland Security shutdown began on February 14, as the agency approaches one month without full congressional funding. The crisis is colliding directly with the busiest spring break travel season in years, a Midwest winter storm and a week in which 50,000 TSA employees missed their first full paycheck. Airport security lines are stretching to three hours or more at major hubs with no legislative resolution in sight.
The Numbers
TSA recorded 305 employee separations between February 14 and March 9. The unscheduled absence rate has tripled from a baseline of 2 to 3% to as high as 7% nationally, with the highest single-day rate reaching 9% on February 23. At Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport, 53% of officers called out on a single day, March 8. At JFK in New York, the absence rate averaged 21% during the shutdown, the highest of any major hub. Other heavily affected airports included Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta at 19% and William P. Hobby at comparable levels on multiple days. The highest nationwide single-day count of operational hotspots, defined as instances where staffing shortages threaten checkpoint operations, reached 87 on March 8. (CBS News, The Hill)
Replacing departed officers is not a quick fix. TSA officers require four to six months of training before they can work independently at a checkpoint. American Association of Airport Executives president Todd Hauptli warned that the callout rate could double within two weeks at the current rate of attrition. “It’s not sustainable,” said Cameron Cochems, vice president of the Airport Management Group. (The Hill)
The Human Toll on Workers
Many officers are withdrawing thousands of dollars from retirement accounts to cover basic expenses. Others are borrowing from family members or leaving bills unpaid. Airport donation drives have been launched at Denver International, Seattle-Tacoma, Harry Reid International in Las Vegas, Boise Airport and Pocatello Regional Airport in Idaho, collecting grocery gift cards, gas cards, hygiene products and infant supplies. Some officers were evicted or had their cars repossessed during last fall’s shutdown. This time, fewer emergency financial resources are available. (CNN, CBS News)
The CEOs of American, Delta, Southwest and JetBlue sent a joint letter to Congress on Sunday urging a bipartisan solution. “It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid,” the letter stated. The airlines noted that spring break involves an estimated 171 million passengers over March and April, a 4% increase from the record set the previous year. (CNN)
The Impact on Travelers This Weekend
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport canceled more than 670 flights Sunday due to the Midwest winter storm. Chicago O’Hare and Midway combined for more than 1,200 cancellations. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport advised passengers to arrive three hours early, with wait times up to two hours. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta advised three-hour early arrivals citing 250,000 weekend travelers. A CNN editor in Atlanta reported a 72-minute wait at one checkpoint Sunday morning. A CNN producer reported a 40-minute PreCheck wait at the same airport Sunday evening, longer than normal. Chicago O’Hare was described as chaotic, with passengers shuffling between lines. (CNN, CBS News)
One passenger in New Orleans, Leah Turney, told CBS News her family missed their flight after waiting four hours in a TSA line. Global Entry, which had been suspended earlier during the shutdown, was reactivated last Wednesday after public pressure. TSA PreCheck remains operational but is being limited on a case-by-case basis. (CBS News, Time)
The Political Standoff
DHS is the only federal agency unfunded for fiscal year 2026. The shutdown began after Congress failed to pass a DHS spending bill. Democrats have linked DHS funding to new oversight restrictions on immigration enforcement following the fatal shooting of two American citizens in Minneapolis. The House passed a new funding bill largely along party lines last week without those restrictions. It is not expected to pass the Senate. Democrats who introduced standalone TSA funding bills saw those blocked by Republicans. (CNN)
Why This Matters to You
If you are flying this spring, this shutdown affects your travel directly. Lines of two to three hours or more are being reported at major airports across the country at the start of what is projected to be the busiest spring break travel season on record. And the situation is expected to get worse before it gets better, with the callout rate potentially doubling over the next two weeks.
Beyond travel disruption, this is a story about the sustainability of using essential workers as leverage in a political standoff. TSA officers cannot legally strike and cannot refuse to work without risking termination. They are required to be at the airport every day while their colleagues quit around them and their own bills go unpaid. It is worth thinking about: Is it appropriate to require workers to perform a federally mandated security function without pay? With airports now running food drives for federal employees and airline CEOs writing to Congress, has this shutdown already crossed a line that makes it harder for TSA to recruit qualified officers long after the funding is restored? And with DHS being the only unfunded agency in the government, what does it say about the prioritization of aviation security in the current political environment?
