Tag: TSA agents working without pay

Number of TSA checkpoint agents calling out during shutdown stresses major airports

A Transportation Security Administration agent screens passengers at a security checkpoint at the Atlanta airport, one of the airports struggling with staffing problems. Credit: Elijah Nouvelage, Reuters

The number of airport security workers failing to show up for work hit an all-time high over the weekend, straining checkpoint lanes at several major hub airports.

The number of unscheduled absences was 8 percent nationally, compared with 3 percent a year ago, as the Transportation Security Administration conceded that many of its workers could no longer handle the financial hardship of working without pay during the government shutdown.

The agency said the stress was being felt at checkpoint lanes in New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Miami.

View the complete January 20 article by Ashley Halsey II and Michael Laris on The Washington Post website here.

Unions say TSA workers can’t afford to man checkpoints without a paycheck

Transportation Safety Administration officials said Friday they were monitoring reports that the nation’s airports were experiencing an increase in “sick outs” as the partial federal government shutdown entered its third week.

“Call-outs have increased, but they’re really having minimal impact,” said TSA spokesman Jim Gregory. “To date the [checkpoint] wait times remain within TSA standards.”

Those standards are a maximum of 30 minutes spent in a regular checkpoint line and 10 minutes for those who pass through the expedited line under the TSA’s PreCheck program. Gregory said that on Thursday, 2.2 million passengers passed through TSA checkpoints and 99.8 percent of them waited less than 30 minutes.

View the complete January 4 article by Ashley Halsey III on The Washington Post website here.