Travelers complained Sunday about long wait times at airport security checkpoints in Houston and New Orleans, sometimes lasting hours, with officials blaming the Department of Homeland Security government shutdown.
Expected wait times at the standard security checkpoint at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport were as high as three hours Sunday evening, according to the airport’s website. Hobby Airport said on social media Friday that it expected more passengers than usual due to spring break.
In a series of posts on Sunday, Airport X, citing the partial government shutdown, went from urging travelers to arrive early, to asking them to arrive 3 to 4 hours before their flight, to eventually asking them to arrive 4 to 5 hours early to allow more time for security checks.
The Houston airport, which adds Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental to its system, said in a statement that the closures “may impact daily and shift safe operations.” Wait times at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport checkpoint were only a few minutes Sunday evening.
On Sunday, a post on Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport’s The airport urges travelers to arrive at least three hours before their flight and says wait times can be as long as two hours. It warned that similar delays could continue into the coming week.
It was unclear whether the delays in Houston and New Orleans also occurred at other airports across the country. Flights in places like Atlanta have been delayed in recent days due to weather, and wait times were longer than usual on Sunday.
The Transportation Security Administration will be closed starting February 14, and agency staff are expected to work without pay. Democratic lawmakers said the Department of Homeland Security would not receive funding without new restrictions on federal immigration operations following the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Chris Sununu, president and CEO of Airlines for America, the U.S. airline trade group, urged Congress and the Trump administration to take action in a statement.
“We are in the spring break travel season, with record numbers of people expected to fly. Airlines are ready; now Congress and the administration must act urgently to reach a deal to reopen DHS and end the lockdown,” he said. “America’s transportation safety workforce is too important to be used as political leverage.”
Jessica Andersen Alexie and her two children, ages 10 and 13, were among the travelers stuck in a long line at the Houston Hobby as they tried to return home to New Orleans. They were in Houston for the World Baseball Classic.
Alexie said they arrived 3 hours early to find a long line and realized they wouldn’t be able to catch their flight. While in line, she checked the rental car to see if there was an option to drive home but couldn’t find an available vehicle. She was able to rebook her late-night flight and felt relieved after getting through the CLEAR security line about 3 1/2 hours later.
When they finally sat down to eat, she decided to take another look at available flights in case anyone else in line had to cancel and reschedule their plans, and found three seats on the flight that brought her family home on Sunday afternoon. When they landed at the New Orleans airport, the line stretched into the parking lot, she said.
“It’s crazy,” she said. “This is crazy.”