Get to the airport early:Government shutdown could double security lines as TSA agents call out sick [View all]

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When AJ Johnson, a teacher in the United Arab Emirates, arrived at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport for his flight to Dubai on Thursday, he was greeted with what he described as “a mess.” He has flown out of the airport before but hadn’t seen such a crowd.

“The lines were exceptionally longer than normal, especially for a peak departure time frame of 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.,” he said, adding that only two of three security lines in the terminal were staffed.

A spokeswoman for DFW said the airport is running “with normal operations” and she could not comment on the state of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines specifically. She said airport data shows 90% of passengers get through security in 14 minutes or less, on average. But the number of agents calling out sick at the airport has increased by 200-300%, CNN reported on Friday.

Throughout the country, other passengers similarly tweeted complaints about long TSA lines in recent days. TSA agents been working without pay since the government shut down on Dec. 21 with no end in sight — and that could lead to travel delays for air passengers, said Christopher R. Bidwell senior vice president for security at Airports Council International, a non-profit representing airport owners and operators in the U.S. and Canada....

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/get-to-the-airport-early-government-shutdown-could-double-security-lines-2019-01-04