plan for big delays<\/a> at security checkpoints as the federal government shutdown impacts TSA staffing and operations nationwide.<\/p>\nHouston Airports says TSA wait times may exceed three hours at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and more than an hour at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU). The delays are expected to continue until further notice.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrankly, it\u2019s just two people are fighting over political issues, and this is the victim, the public,\u201d traveler Nael Tannira said.<\/p>\n
Tannira saw the security line outside of Terminal E and decided it wasn\u2019t worth the effort. He missed his flight. Other passengers say they witnessed people acting restless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI done walked past people fighting, cussing each other out, it\u2019s crazy,\u201d traveler Tamisha Diggs told KHOU 11.<\/p>\n
On Sunday afternoon, around 4 p.m., the line for security in Terminal A went downstairs into baggage claim, and people were waiting for at least two hours to get upstairs through security.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is insane, it\u2019s looking like I\u2019ll miss my flight,\u201d traveler Cesar Aparicio told KHOU 11 while he was in the Terminal A line.<\/p>\n
Passengers say they trekked between Terminals A and E in hopes of seeing better wait times, but that wasn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI finally go over there [to Terminal E] and it\u2019s catastrophic,\u201d traveler Urayna Nance said.<\/p>\n
Instead of flying home, she\u2019s planning to stay overnight at the airport with hopes that conditions improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cPoor communication, other issues going on. I do understand the shortage in the staff and the why, but it\u2019s just very inconvenient for all our passengers,\u201d Nance said.<\/p>\n
Other passengers are hoping authorities can improve this flying fiasco.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy only hope is the authority of the governor. He has to call in the TSA people to come in and open up more TSA entrance areas,\u201d Tannira asked.<\/p>\n
At Bush Airport, only TSA checkpoints at Terminals A and E are open. Airport officials say United Airlines passengers should check their luggage at Terminal C, then head over to Terminal E for security screening by walking or taking the airport subway. The Subway connects all five terminals, and once screened, travelers can take the Skyway to reach each gate.<\/p>\n
At Hobby, officials say fewer screening lanes are open, which is contributing to longer lines there.<\/p>\n
Houston Airports says many TSA agents are currently working without pay as the federal government shutdown continues. To help ease the strain, Houston Airports\u2019 own staff are assisting TSA workers in moving passengers through checkpoints and trying to keep lines from backing up further.<\/p>\n
Houston Airports Director of Aviation Jim Szczesniak calls this a \u201cchallenging time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sincerely thank our passengers for arriving early and for their patience and flexibility during this challenging time,\u201d he said in a statement issued Sunday. \u201cThe federal government shutdown has impacted TSA staffing and operations nationwide, and Houston Airports is doing everything possible to support our TSA partners and keep passengers moving safely and efficiently. We ask that passengers continue to arrive early and expect extended security wait times until the federal government shutdown is resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officials urge passengers to arrive several hours early for their flights and allow extra time to get through security until the shutdown ends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The wait times continue to go up as the government shutdown continues. HOUSTON \u2014 Travelers flying out of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":353102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-353101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115487024318850742","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}