Travel delays? What to know about the partial government shutdown

Well, here we go again. Travelers heading to the airport this weekend face a lot of uncertainty after part of the federal government shut down overnight.

The good news: Disruptions to air travel shouldn’t be so bad as we saw last fall during the longest government shutdown in history.

But if this latest stalemate continues, it could (eventually) lead to long lines at airport security checkpoints.

What happened?

Shortly after midnight on Saturday, the US Department of Homeland Security ceased many of its operations after lawmakers on Capitol Hill were unable to reach a funding agreement.

TSA working without pay

While much of the current debate Although Washington has surrounded U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS also oversees an agency critical to airport operations: the Transportation Security Administration.

Now, 95% of TSA employees are considered essential federal workers. So you certainly won’t see airport checkpoints closing. Officers will (once again) be expected to show up for work without the promise of an immediate paycheck.

Will they continue to appear?

That’s always the big question when people are asked to work without pay.

Weeks after the government shutdown last fall, there were was a series of complaints at one point in Houston, which led to multi-hour backups at both George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU).

But overall, TSA checkpoints generally ran smoothly, leaving hope for travelers to avoid major delays; although, as we have seen with previous lockdowns, the longer things drag on, the more the impacts tend to grow.

What about customs at airports?

We will also be attentive to waiting times at airport passport control centers.

These are made up of US Customs and Border Protection agents (part of DHS) who, like TSA agents, will have to work without pay until the department is back up and running.

Flight delays are unlikely

Here’s the good news: Unlike the fall government pause, we shouldn’t see massive flight cancellations or delays.

Congress has already funded the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control.

That means workers in our control towers and at FAA facilities will not have to work without pay as they did in the fall, which is what fueled the mass work calls and subsequent problems in air travel.

National parks will not close

National parks will also remain open since the US Department of the Interior already has funding. So will popular federally funded monuments and attractions, such as the Smithsonian museums in Washington.

What should you do if you are flying?

If I were flying in the next few days, I would closely monitor reports on airport operations for any news about major TSA backups.

It certainly wouldn’t hurt to arrive at the terminal a little earlier than normal. Follow the airport you’re departing from on social media to get alerts about longer-than-expected wait times.

But don’t count on what is normally at hand. MyTSA appwhich typically tracks wait times at live checkpoints, but didn’t work during last fall’s shutdown.

if you are a TSA Precheck member (or get your TSA PreCheck access through Global Entry), make sure you have opted for the new one and TSA PreCheck Contactless ID Program Expanding Rapidly. It’s faster than regular TSA PreCheck, costs nothing extra, and is available in a rapidly growing list of airports.

Just make sure opt for with your airline in advance.

What about passport control?

If you’re flying to the US from abroad, Global Entry remains the gold standard for getting through passport control quickly.

But if you’re not a Global Entry member, you can still skip the line at many international hubs by using the free service Mobile passport control program.

Long-term concerns

While hopes are high that this smaller-scale partial government shutdown will not cause widespread travel delays, long-term concerns remain.

in a report In a presentation to Congress this week, the TSA’s top leader said last fall’s shutdown led to a 25% increase in the number of agents leaving the agency’s workforce.

This came as the TSA sought to recruit staff ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup in the United States, raising concerns about security backups.

“Another shutdown would severely impact TSA’s ability to meet these staffing needs,” Ha Nguyen McNeill, acting TSA administrator, said Wednesday.

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