Overview
- Security waits reached roughly three to 3.5 hours at Houston’s William P. Hobby on Sunday, with airports urging travelers to arrive three to five hours early and reporting missed flights and large delays.
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International cited staffing shortages as lines stretched into parking garages, while longer-than-normal waits were also flagged in Atlanta, Charlotte and Houston’s Bush Intercontinental.
- About 50,000 TSA officers are working without pay after the Feb. 13 funding lapse, and officials say absences are rising as the first full missed paycheck approaches this week.
- Operations were curtailed in places, including a closed PreCheck lane at Hobby, and the Global Entry program remains suspended.
- Airlines for America expects a record 171 million passengers in March–April and warns delays will worsen unless DHS funding is restored.