A heavy topic affecting the whole country is a phenomenon that is affecting people’s daily lives and travel plans. Hundreds of people are missing flights due to the insanely chaotic traffic of people throughout the airport. Travelers are waiting in lines for up to two to three hours just to get through security checkpoints. This is a real problem affecting travelers as well as the employees working for the Transportation Security Administration, also known as TSA, which is currently shut down.
“I had to leave much earlier than planned and double-check everything because I knew delays at the airport were likely. I waited about 2–3 hours mainly because of long security lines and crowded check-in areas,” senior Connor Redcliffe said.
With the TSA shutdown all over the country, many employees choose not to show up to work due to the lack of pay. This creates big problems. Not only does this problem have a big impact on travelers, but it also has a big impact on the workers. The recommended time to arrive at the airport, before flights, is usually about two hours. Now, with this problem, travelers wait in lines exceeding two hours and very easily miss their boarding time and flights.
According to AP News, “The shutdown may force TSA to consider closing some airports until funding resumes, multiple airports are experiencing callout rates higher than 40%, and air travelers are experiencing the TSA’s highest wait times ever,” administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill said.
This shutdown is directly affecting the community, with the Soccer Academy traveling out of the state through the airport as well as the Newsroom and Yearbook trip to New York. Students on these trips missed their flights, which created problems such as worry about making sure that everyone stayed together, as well as the rescheduling of flights and paying for another ticket.
“I was definitely worried about missing my flight because of all the talk about the busy airport traffic, so I made sure to arrive much earlier. I even checked in online and kept all my documents ready to move as quickly as possible,” junior Hugo Enander said.
With this being said, many were worried and stressed about missing their flight, so they left much earlier than usual. Although the traveling students said that the traffic wasn’t too bad for them, it can depend on the time and seat on the flight.
“It was honestly easy to prepare for my flight, nothing really special, like a half-hour wait because of the number of people and I was not worried about missing my flight,” senior Preston Duval said.