Mar 24, 2026
Security lines at some of Americas busiest airports are stretching on for hours.At Houstons George Bush Airport, security wait times topping four hours.Travelers were waiting more than two and a half hours at New York's JFK Airp ort early Tuesday morning.But elsewhere, travelers barely noticed a difference. Baltimores airport touted minimal wait times."Staffing is strained at some particular airports more than others, but there is no clear throughline and really no understanding of whether or not one airport will see more call outs versus another," said travel expert Katy Castro.The slowdowns are the result of a continued congressional standoff over DHS funding. And travel experts say if they continue, the economic effects could start to get more profound.More TSA agents are calling out, and the agency's workers are set to miss their second full paycheck on Friday.Its not that these employees and their families are hungry. Theyre beginning to starve. Starve," said Mac Johnson, Executive vice president of AG AFGE TSA Council 100. "Literally starve, because they do not have the funds to provide, the financial means to provide food for their families.RELATED NEWS | TSA warns some small US airports could close amid shutdownMeanwhile, travelers could soon face higher fares when they go to book their flights, due to the war with Iran driving up the price of oil and therefore jet fuel.Uniteds CEO told employees in a letter last week if prices stayed at this level, it would mean an extra $11 billion in annual expense just for jet fuel."In terms of airfare, we are expecting some spikes," said Eric Rosen, director of travel content at The Points Guy. "It's been a little uneven so far but average airfares have gone up about 15% in the last month. So travelers are already seeing rising prices and it's only going to get worse as long as the conflict is going on."RELATED STORY | Trump says US has won war with Iran, but fighting continues ...read more read less
Respond, make new discussions, see other discussions and customize your news...

To add this website to your home screen:

1. Tap tutorialsPoint

2. Select 'Add to Home screen' or 'Install app'.

3. Follow the on-scrren instructions.

Feedback
FAQ
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service