Airport Wait Times Worst in History After 480 Officers Leave
(Bloomberg) — The 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.
Airports that have been significantly hit include those in Atlanta, Houston and New York. Lines have snaked through terminals, baggage claims and even outside in some cases, going viral on social media where frustrated passengers griped about the waits and the potential of missed flights. Early Wednesday morning, videos posted to X showed long lines at LaGuardia Airport in New York City winding through the facility. Typically wait times are posted on LaGuardia’s website, but due to the rapidly-changing situation, updates have been suspended.
Lawmakers from both parties used a House Homeland Security Committee hearing to press McNeill on the operational impact of the shutdown and the agency’s response. Republicans said the funding lapse is weakening national security and straining frontline personnel, while Democrats challenged the administration’s reliance on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to support airport operations.
The staffing crunch is worsening as the funding lapse continues. “We did see spikes in attrition,” McNeill said, noting the agency is closely tracking losses as employees leave or call out after missing paychecks.
At some major airports, as many as 40% to 50% of officers have called out on certain days, forcing TSA to consolidate screening lanes and scale back operations as lines stretch for hours.
The shutdown, now about 40 days after funding lapsed on Feb. 14, remains deadlocked in Washington amid disputes over immigration enforcement policy.
McNeill said ICE personnel are assisting with “non-specialized screening functions” to help manage long lines and allow TSA officers to focus on core security duties. She said agents are operating under TSA protocols, including helping at travel document checkpoints, as the agency works to maintain operations with reduced staffing.
Democrats questioned whether ICE agents have the training to perform those roles and raised concerns about their presence at airports. McNeill said that “under a normal order, TSA would be performing our operations,” but added that ICE support is helping “alleviate the burden” on officers during the shutdown.
President Donald Trump said in a social media post that ICE agents were helping passengers with their bags and cleaning areas. “Thank you to ICE for the GREAT job you are doing,” Trump said.
McNeill warned the longer the lapse continues, the harder it will be to stabilize staffing, saying the agency must remain “in a ready posture” ahead of a summer travel surge and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
(Updates with Trump’s social media post in penultimate paragraph.)
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
