TSA staffing crisis escalates as agents quit, stay home
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A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent looks on passengers in line to go through security at New York's LaGuardia airport. Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
More than 450 TSA agents have quit in the nearly six weeks since the partial government shutdown began, resulting in the "highest wait times in TSA history," a top Department of Homeland Security official told a House committee Wednesday.
Why it matters: The resignations represent a small fraction of the 50,000 or so TSA agents who screen passengers, but the departures — combined with workers' absences — are fueling security line delays nationwide.
- At New York's JFK International Airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International, Houston's George Bush Intercontinental and New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International, more than one-third of the staff has been absent, according to DHS.
- Overall, 11.7% of TSA's agents were absent Sunday, the highest overall percentage of the shutdown, department spokesperson Lauren Bis said.
The latest: DHS officials say that even if the shutdown were to end soon, its impact on TSA staffing levels will weigh on the agency well into the busy summer travel season.
- The staffing losses aren't possible to make up before the U.S co-hosts the World Cup starting June 11, the senior official running TSA, Ha Nguyen McNeill, told a congressional oversight panel Wednesday.
- "At this point if we bring on any new [TSA agents], those folks will not be deployed in time by FIFA," she said. "If we see any spikes [in attrition rates], we'll have to pivot and assess how we are going to staff the FIFA locations adequately."
- The U.S. will host 78 World Cup matches in 11 cities this summer, attracting fans from around the world.
McNeill told lawmakers that TSA has been affected by shutdowns for roughly half the fiscal year, and it's taking a toll on the workforce.
What they're saying: TSA union leaders across the country said many of their members can't afford to come to work without being paid.
- "They love this job. They're quitting because they have no choice," said Hydrick Thomas, TSA Council 100 President and an agent at JFK Airport. "They don't have the finances to come to work."
- "I've heard that some officers, they can make it through this month but after this month, they don't know. April 1 is like, 'That's a wrap,' " said Janis Casey, TSA Council 100 Region 3 vice president.
The big picture: The government shutdown — the third in less than a year — already has made recruiting new TSA agents more difficult, union leaders told Axios.
- "It's going to be hard to recruit people to work for TSA," Thomas said, adding that funding the agency could be an issue again as soon as October, the start of the government's next fiscal year.
Between the lines: The Trump administration's solution to ease the workload and decrease lines has been to deploy ICE agents to high-traffic airports.
- But union officials say ICE agents haven't been able help with security work. It takes four to six months to train as a TSA agent, and many security tasks require annual certifications.
- McNeill told lawmakers that ICE agents were being trained this week to scan travelers' ID's, manage lines and help passengers load bins for security scanners.
- Once the shutdown ends, union officials say, it could take 14 to 30 days for workers to receive backpay.
