WASHINGTON — The leaders of America’s top airlines launched a fresh push for Congress to end the more than one-month-old shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security, warning that the “stakes are especially high” this spring.
In an open letter to Congress published online by Airlines for America and in The Washington Post over the weekend, the CEOs of 10 of the country’s biggest passenger and cargo carriers lamented that air travel has again become a “political football” in the third government shutdown of some degree in President Donald Trump’s second term.
“That comes as no surprise. Americans—who live in your districts and home states—are tired of long lines at airports, travel delays and flight cancellations caused by shutdown after shutdown,” the CEOs of the major companies, including United, Delta, Southwest and American as well as UPS and FedEx, wrote.
The executives went on to call on Congress to “immediately” find a solution to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security and specifically urged lawmakers to pass three bills they said would ensure air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration employees continue to get paid during a government shutdown.
Some of the legislation cited — including the Aviation Funding Solvency Act, the Aviation Funding Stability Act and the Keep America Flying Act — have bipartisan support but have not made real progress, even as chaos at the nation’s airports has previously been one of the most front-facing impacts of government shutdowns to the public.
With the lapse in funding at the DHS now in its fifth week and as as Democrats push for changes to immigration enforcement practices under the Trump administration, passengers have reported long wait times at security. DHS said more than 300 TSA agents have left since the start of the shutdown and the carrier CEOs noted employees still with the agency received a $0 paychecks. In past shutdowns, officials have noted air traffic controllers and TSA employees call in sick or have to look for other jobs as they are expected to work without pay.
The airline CEOs warned the travel issue will be exacerbated over the next few months if the shutdown continues, mentioning spring break travel, celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary and the FIFA World Cup, which will see cities across the U.S. host matches.
There were more than 10,000 delays and 3,000 cancellations into, within or out of the U.S. on Sunday, according to FlightAware, with the three most impacted airports being Chicago O’Hare International, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International and Orlando International.
Cities in Florida, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Tampa, hold four spots of the top 10 most popular spring break destinations in the U.S. this year, according to AAA, including the first three on the list. The others include Los Angeles, Honolulu, Las Vegas, New York, Atlanta and Chicago.
“U.S. airlines expect 171 million passengers this spring season, a new record,” the CEOs wrote. “But too many travelers are having to wait in extraordinarily long—and painfully slow—lines at checkpoints.”
Since funding at the department lapsed last month, Democratic leaders in Congress have exchanged proposals with the White House for changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, which is housed in DHS, but there has been little sign of any movement toward an agreement.
After a record-long shutdown across the government this past fall driven primarily by the issue of health care, followed by a short partial one earlier this year, the fight over DHS funding was sparked after the killing of two people in Minneapolis by federal agents amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the city.
Since Trump ordered strikes on Iran, launching a conflict now in its third week, Republicans have slammed Democrats for continuing to oppose funding for the department without changes at ICE in what they are calling a “high terror threat” environment at home amid the war.
“I think it’s political malpractice,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday. “It is criminal.”
The Texas Republican went on to argue that Democrats would have “blood on their hands” if they continue to allow a shutdown at the department.
Democrats – many of whom are separately slamming Trump’s war effort in Iran – have pointed out that they have pushed to pass legislation to restore funding at other agencies within DHS, including TSA, FEMA and more, while holding off on ICE to keep negotiating changes.
“I think Republicans should stop blocking the Democratic proposals to fund all of DHS, including TSA and other parts, except for the parts that should be negotiated over, which is ICE and Customs and Border Patrol,” Pete Buttigieg, who served as the Transportation secretary under former Democratic President Joe Biden, said Sunday in an interview on CNN.
Depite being the crux of the funding fight, ICE, was expected to be the least impacted by a shutdown at DHS due to the influx of money Republicans and Trump allocated to it in their “One Big, Beautiful Bill” signed into law this past summer. Other agencies like TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are directly feeling the affects.