Introduction
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Two of the four checkpoints at Sky Harbor Airport’s Terminal 4 are closed, according to airport officials.
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Airports across the United States have been experiencing disruption as the Department of Homeland Security continues to shut down.
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Sky Harbor Airport officials said travelers should arrive at the airport as early as possible.
Phoenix – Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport officials said on the morning of March 20 that two security checkpoints in Terminal 4 were closed.
what we know
Airport officials said checkpoints B and D at Terminal 4 were closed, according to social media posts. Checkpoints B and D are located on either side of Terminal 4, according to the airport’s interactive map.
Airport officials said checkpoints A and C remain open.
Dig deeper
On March 19, the Associated Press reported that wait times at airport security checkpoints have become a guessing game during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
The article talks about the situation at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where wait times were hours long on the morning of March 19, but later in the day, wait times dropped to less than 10 minutes.
The article points out that according to experts, it is difficult to predict where the queues will be longest at any given time because the problem largely stems from TSA personnel not showing up for their shifts. About 50,000 federal workers responsible for screening passengers and luggage have been working without pay while lawmakers failed to agree on funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Backstory
Lawmakers failed to agree on a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, with Democrats refusing to fund some agencies within the department and saying there must be accountability following the deaths of Alex Pretty and Renee Goode in Minneapolis, The Associated Press reported.
House Democrats have been signing a petition to force the House to pass a bill that would fund the Transportation Security Administration and other Homeland Security agencies but not Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the Secretary of State’s office. Republicans, however, say the Department of Homeland Security needs to be fully operational with increased security levels and that Democrats cannot take a piecemeal approach to funding it.
what can you do
In a post announcing the checkpoint closure, Sky Harbor Airport officials said travelers should arrive at the airport at least two hours before their domestic flight to allow ample time to check in, go through security and find their boarding gate.
For international travelers, airport officials said they should arrive at least three hours early.
source
Information for this article comes from a statement released by Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, with additional information gathered from The Associated Press.
