Airports all across the country are on the brink of closure as TSA agents continue to ride a jet stream of resignations and callouts, warned TSA’s acting deputy administrator Adam Stahl.
“It’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call-out rates go up,” Stahl told CNN.
About 50,000 TSA workers have been working without pay since the Department of Homeland Security shutdown on Feb. 14.
More than 350 agents nationwide have flat-out quit the force, the DHS reported.
Thousands of others are calling out sick every day.
And airports have crash-landed into sheer chaos.
Security lines have stretched to two hours nationwide, with some, like Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, exceding a 180-minute wait.
New York’s LaGuardia Airport is seeing long, winding lines form as early as 4:50 a.m., with anxious travelers spilling into the parking lot as they wait.
And there’s no relief in sight.
A bill to fund the DHS failed to pass in the Senate on Friday, meaning Stahl’s prediction could soon become fact.
“The reality of the situation is this is going to get worse before it gets better, if we don’t see any sort of action,” he said.
Disruptions have also been reported in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Orlando, Philadelphia and other airports on both coasts.
Lawmakers are scrambling to find an emergency stopgap, but many are not hopeful.
“This is a pox on everybody’s house,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
If airports are forced to close, the smaller ones will go first.
“We make these determinations on an airport-by-airport basis,” said Stahl.