Senate Passes TSA Funding to End Standoff, Major Airports Still Face Heavy Friday Delays

A 42-day partial government shutdown is finally nearing its end, bringing much-needed relief to the travel industry and its beleaguered TSA agents.

The breakthrough came early Friday morning as the Senate unanimously approved a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The legislation now moves to the House, which is expected to act as early as Friday afternoon to finalize the measure.

The deal came hours after President Trump said he would sign an emergency order to immediately distribute pay to TSA agents, bypassing the congressional deadlock to ensure agents—who have been working without a paycheck since Feb. 14—are paid. Agents were scheduled to miss their second paycheck today.

While the Senate’s deal provides the legal framework to reopen the agency, the emergency order could get cash into agents’ pockets by the end of the week, bypassing the usual multi-day delay of a standard federal payroll restart.

The hope now is that operations can begin to return to normal for both staff and U.S. travelers. Wait times at hubs around the country have routinely surpassed four hours, and even two hours for PreCheck travelers, as airports were forced to consolidate security checkpoints to manage with a short staff.

Even with pay restored, significant damage has already been done to the agency. More than 500 agents have left the TSA since the start of the month, according to a DHS headcount. Even if checkpoints are fully funded today, the time required to recruit and vet new federal officers means that completely “normal” operations may be some time away.

Industry groups are already calling for more permanent legislative protections to ensure the TSA is not used as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman has called for a definitive end to the cycle of funding lapses, as has Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu, who is urging Congress to pass the Keep America Flying Act to prevent future travel chaos.

ASTA this week contributed $10,000 to support the Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund (FEEA). The FEEA is a nonprofit that gives grants to eligible federal employees impacted by government shutdowns.

Security Wait Times Still High on Friday

Even with the news, travelers scheduled to fly over the next few days can expect to deal with those same long lines at security.

On Friday, wait times at George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) remained as high as four hours, a number that has become common for Houston flyers over the past week. Times were also extended at JFK International (JFK), Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL), Newark (EWR), and LaGuardia (LGA), though those airports are no longer publishing real-time wait data.

Other airports, like Orlando International (MCO), Denver International (DEN), Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW), and Miami International (MIA), were all before 30 minutes as of 7 a.m. EST on Friday.

There was some good news for New York City area travelers as the second runway at LaGuardia, which had been closed since a deadly collision between an Air Canada jet and a Port Authority fire truck earlier this week, reopened on Thursday. That brings some relief to the airport, though it is still experiencing elevated cancellations and delays on Friday morning—still nothing close to what was reported earlier in the week.