Here’s how the DHS shutdown is impacting air travel, TSA

(The Hill) -- As the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains without funding, air travel nationwide has been impacted.

Employees of the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), which is housed within DHS, are working without pay as of early Saturday morning — when the funding lapse began. 

According to DHS’s shutdown contingency plan published in September, just over 95 percent of TSA employees are exempt and will remain on board during the shutdown. The remaining workers, an estimated 2,933 out of 64,130, will be furloughed. 

That contingency plan was published prior to the record 43-day government shutdown last fall, which led to air travel delays nationwide due to TSA employees and air traffic controllers calling out of work. The Hill has reached out to TSA and DHS for clarification on whether the plan applies to the current funding lapse and whether non-exempted employees have already been furloughed. 

This time around, air traffic controllers are working with pay, as they fall under the Federal Aviation Administration, which is part of the Department of Transportation, not DHS. But Ha Nguyen McNeill, the acting TSA administrator, warned last week that the shutdown will still impact air travel.

“Many [Transportation Security officers] work paycheck to paycheck trying to support themselves and their families,” McNeill said in front of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. “During a shutdown, the ability to pay for rent, bills, groceries, childcare, and gas just to get to work becomes very challenging, leading to increased unscheduled absences (call-outs) as a shutdown progresses. 

“Higher call-outs can result in longer wait times at checkpoints, leading to missed or delayed flights, which has a cascading negative impact on the American economy.”

On Saturday, over 5,100 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were delayed, with nearly 460 such flights cancelled, according to data from FlightAware. So far Sunday, nearly 4,700 U.S. flights have been delayed, with over 240 such flights canceled. 

These numbers do not distinguish between those caused by TSA call-outs and other reasons, such as regular maintenance or weather delays. On Friday, FlightAware data shows that over 5,500 U.S. flights were delayed while over 120 were cancelled. 

A trio of industry groups — U.S. Travel, Airlines for America and the American Hotel Association — sounded alarms over how the DHS shutdown will impact air travel. In a joint statement released Friday, the organizations noted that last fall’s funding lapse resulted in an economic impact of $6 billion and disrupted travel for more than 6 million individuals.

“Funding uncertainties create lasting damage to the entire travel ecosystem, especially the airlines, hotels and thousands of small businesses the travel industry supports,” they wrote. “It also stifles recruitment, retention, preparedness and modernization efforts.”

Stahl and McNeill also warned this week about the effect a shutdown will have on non-immediate TSA services, such as recruitment and technological advancements. Stahl said Thursday that the shutdown will “suspend non-essential services” for the agency.

McNeill, meanwhile, said Wednesday that roughly 1,110 officers left TSA in October and November, an increase of more than 25 percent relative to the same time period the year prior. She added that a “shutdown and funding uncertainties have real and measurable impacts on recruitment, retention, and employee morale.”