Over a third of TSA officers call out at 3 major U.S. airports in single day as ‌funding standoff continues

More than 40% of TSA officers called out of work on Tuesday at an airport in Houston – one of three major airports in the U.S. where over a third of workers called out that day.

The workers aren’t getting paid, leading to a spike in call-out rates, as a partial government shutdown over a funding dispute continues.

At William P. Hobby Airport in Texas, 40.8% of TSA workers called out on Tuesday. At Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, nearly 36% of TSA officers called out, while more than 34% called out at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to TSA data.

“The morale is getting worse by the day because no one knows when this is gonna end,” said Cameron Cochems, a union steward and lead TSA officer in Boise, Idaho.

Cochems said people are “waiting in line because the government can’t do their job, and it’s ruining people’s lives.”

Screening lines at airports are long because of the shortages of TSA employees. They missed their first full paycheck last Friday, and since then, the agency has seen a higher-than-average number of unscheduled absences.

An underlying stalemate in Washington isn’t budging, leaving TSA and the Department of Homeland Security without funding. 

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Trump’s pick to lead the Homeland Security department, said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday, “we have to get DHS funded. We have to. My friends, we have to set the partisan side down.”

In Philadelphia, flyers found three of six TSA checkpoints closed on Wednesday. In Atlanta, one traveler, Reggy Monsanto, said he got to the airport with five hours to spare.

“It’s a 45 minute flight,” he said. “We got up at 6, to get on a flight at 2.”

Acting deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl told CBS News that if the call-out rate climbs, “there could be scenarios where we may have to shut down airports.”

“This is a serious situation,” he said.