TSA warns of security 'threat' as airport checkpoint closures trigger more travel delays
· Fox News
The ongoing DHS shutdown has sparked travel chaos in areas of the country, with some airports now closing security checkpoints due to callouts by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers.
Philadelphia International Airport, for example, announced it will temporarily close three security checkpoints "to help optimize operations across other checkpoints" starting Wednesday.
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The airport has a total of six main checkpoints — now with just half of them open and operating.
FLIGHT PASSENGERS ARE WARNED THINGS COULD GET WORSE AMID DHS SHUTDOWN, DELAYS AND CALLOUTS
Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told Fox News Digital in an interview that the airport has had increases in unscheduled absence rates — and that other airports could be next.
"We’re determining [airport and security line closures] based on staffing, but we have federal security directors on the ground who are experts in their particular airport, the configuration, demographic, and travel and patterns tied to that airport," he said.
Stahl said the issue is not just staffing. He said "a variety of other streams of information, including threat [and] intelligence" input, are also part of ongoing risk assessments.
So far, 366 TSA officers have quit during the shutdown. Stahl warned that as the shutdown drags on, the TSA faces the risk of losing even more officers.
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"The reality is [that] as this continues, as our officers continue not to receive a paycheck, it just stretches into weeks … [and] rates [of callouts] are going to continue to go up. We're going to have individuals that can't afford to go into work and individuals quit, possibly altogether," Stahl added.
There was a national callout rate of 10.19% on Sunday, a TSA spokesperson told Fox News Digital this week.
"The overall majority of individuals are continuing to show up, but that's just the reality of the situation. We don't know how much longer they're going to hold on for, and that's why we've signaled to airports, but also to everyone else."
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"As the weeks continue, if this continues, it's not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports – particularly smaller ones if callout rates go up," Stahl told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday.
LaGuardia Airport in New York City has had wait times for travelers of nearly three hours; passengers have faced the same at William P. Hobby (HOU) in Houston.
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the wait time for flight passengers has been over two hours.
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Smaller and regional airports are warning passengers of long wait times.
"Wait times may fluctuate from 15 minutes to up to two hours depending on the day of week or time of day," the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport shared on X.
"It's about the integrity of the aviation security system," Stahl told Fox News Digital.
"We don't want to jeopardize that, and we're going to continue to prioritize that in the days ahead."
Khloe Quill of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.