Lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal in late January, leading to a partial government shutdown and the elimination of funding for the agency that operates the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). As a result, travelers across the country are reporting delays at airports as they wait in long lines to pass through security checkpoints.
Now that the partial shutdown is not over yet, many travelers are trying to head out for their spring travel plans, and people are looking for ways to get through TSA checkpoints faster to avoid missing their flights. While there are some tricks people can use to make things go a little faster, many people may find that the best thing to do is avoid departing from the airport with the longest queues. So, which ones are they? Read on as we share what people are saying now about their experiences.
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Calls cause queues to grow longer
Staffing issues appear to be the top issue for TSA delays, business insider The report says callouts are one of the main reasons why queues are longer at some airports. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shares the latest data with us business insiderBased on data collected as of March 16. According to them, 366 TSA agents left their jobs between the start of the shutdown and Monday, just days after agents went without paychecks for the first time.
Not only are agents off duty, some even refuse to come to work on certain days, choosing instead to call in sick. While Monday marked the highest number of callouts so far since the government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security told the publication they were seeing a large number of callouts across the board.
According to them, the following airports have had the highest average call rates since the shutdown began:
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Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has an average of 21.5% of agents calling
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On average, 21.4% of agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport call
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Houston Hobby has an average of 20.1% of agents calling
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Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, with an average of 16.5% of agents calling
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On average, 13.8% of agents at Pittsburgh International Airport call
Prior to the shutdown, the average call rate was less than 2%, underscoring the magnitude of the growth.
Parade reached out to the TSA for comment on checkpoint wait times, but they did not respond to our request prior to publication.
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Travelers are sharing their experiences
Steve Griswold, owner of Pixie Vacations, said the average wait time for passengers flying out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is 90 minutes. “So you need to arrive at least two hours before your normal flight arrival time,” he explained, adding that passengers may need to arrive four hours before their flight to be on the safe side. Griswold said he is now hearing the same narrative about the reasons for flight delays at these busy airports, explaining that gate agents he has spoken to also say most delays are caused by calls from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
However, Lauren Leibowitz of New Jersey said she was surprised to see how quickly things progressed on a March 14 flight from Orlando International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport. “There were about three people working security and the time went by really fast,” she recalled, noting that she was pleasantly surprised by the speed, especially considering there were so many families from Disney at the time.
Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania man said he flew out from Newark that day and waited in line for less than 30 minutes. However, he arrived at 6:00 a.m., which may have played a role in his ability to get through the queue quickly.
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Some airports have faster security lines
While I’ve witnessed first-hand horror stories of travelers queuing for hours on end — including a newlywed who said delays at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, airport caused her to wait in line for a staggering 12 hours — some airports seem to have better luck when it comes to wait times. According to On Air Parking, which tracks airport security lines across the country, they consider some wait times to be “very short” even in the current economic slowdown.
There are even some routes listed as taking less than 10 minutes to traverse, including:
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Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
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Palm Springs International Airport
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Las Vegas McCarran International Airport
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Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Of course, this can all change in an instant. If you want to know what the wait times are at your local airport, download the MyTSA app, which allows passengers to stay informed of TSA wait times on participating airlines 24/7. Additionally, some airlines with previously long wait times may see those numbers drop over time as more passengers take advantage of options like CLEAR, Global Entry and PreCheck that allow them to get through security faster.
This article was originally published by Parade on March 19, 2026, and first appeared in the Travel section. Click here to add Parade as a preferred source.
