Kamal Ghorui
Airports across the country were on the brink of closure as Transportation Security Administration agents continued to resign and call out, TSA acting deputy administrator Adam Stahl warned.“It’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call-out rates go up,” Stahl told CNN.Thousands of TSA workers called out sick every day since the Department of Homeland Security shutdown on February 14, resulting in long lines and thousands of flight delays.
Before noon on Saturday, there were already 1,319 reported flight delays in and out of the US, and another 75 cancellations, FlightAware data showed.Security lines stretched to two hours nationwide, with some, including Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, exceeding a 180-minute wait. New York’s LaGuardia Airport saw long, winding lines form as early as 4:50 a.m., with anxious travellers spilling into the parking lot as they waited.Disruptions were also reported in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Orlando, Philadelphia and other airports on both coasts.A bill to fund the DHS failed to pass in the Senate on Friday, meaning Stahl’s prediction could soon become fact.“The reality of the situation is this is going to get worse before it gets better, if we don’t see any sort of action,” he said.About 10% of TSA agents across the nation missed work Thursday, according to the DHS. The absentee rate was two or three times higher in some places: 33% at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, 29% at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, 27% at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, and 23% at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.The House Committee on Homeland Security scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to review the partial shutdown’s impact on the TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the US Coast Guard and other agencies within DHS.Lawmakers scrambled to find an emergency stopgap, but many were not hopeful.“This is a pox on everybody’s house,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune.If airports were forced to close, the smaller ones would go first.“We make these determinations on an airport-by-airport basis,” said Stahl.The disruption could be worsened as jet fuel prices skyrocketed due to the Iran War.United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a staff memo Friday that the airline would cut more of its unprofitable flights over the next two quarters after fuel prices doubled last month.If United continued to operate as usual amid the crisis, its fuel bill would rise by about Rs 91.3 lakh crore, more than twice the profit it earned in its “best year ever,” he said.
