By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) – Some small U.S. airports may have to shut due to a shortage of security screeners if a government funding impasse continues, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday.
The Department of Homeland Security said overall absences among Transportation Security Administration airport security officers was 10.2% on Monday, close to the 10.1% who failed to show up for duty on Sunday.
But the absenteeism rate was much higher at some major airports on Monday including 30% at New York’s JFK, 37% at Atlanta, 35% at Houston Hobby and 39% at New Orleans, DHS said.
Some 50,000 TSA officers have been forced to work without pay for the last month due to the budget standoff.
“As the weeks continue, if this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports – particularly smaller ones if callout rates go up,” Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.”
Large airports may be able to continue security operations by closing all but a few checkpoints, but small airports with a single checkpoint could be unable to staff it with absenteeism at the same rates.
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday said airports “are reaching a breaking point.”
Typically, under 2% of TSA workers call in sick or do not report to work, DHS said.
DHS said 366 TSA officers have quit their jobs.
Last fall, a 43-day government shutdown led to widespread flight disruptions, and the FAA ordered a 10% flight cut at major airports.
Airlines, which expect a record-breaking spring travel season, have criticized the impasse, and airline CEOs complained on Sunday that air travel was again a “political football.”
DHS funding lapsed on February 13 after Congress failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reforms demanded by Democrats. Senators from both parties failed Thursday in competing efforts to fund the TSA.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Pooja Desai and Cynthia Osterman)
