Travelers face longest TSA wait times in history as agency's head warns of closures

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Travelers face longest TSA wait times in history as agency's head warns of closures The acting TSA administrator told Congress Wednesday that the agency faces a "dire" situation and may have to close smaller airports, as many security officers working without pay quit or call out. National Travelers face longest TSA wait times in history as agency's head warns of closures March 26, 20266:46 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Hosts Travelers face longest TSA wait times in history as agency's head warns of closures Listen &middot; 1:43 1:43 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5761452/nx-s1-9703877" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript The acting TSA administrator told Congress Wednesday that the agency faces a "dire" situation and may have to close smaller airports, as many security officers working without pay quit or call out. Sponsor Message A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: As the Homeland Security shutdown continues, air travelers are facing the longest wait times in U.S. history, and more than 61,000 TSA employees are working without pay. By Friday, those lost paychecks could reach a total of a billion dollars since the shutdown began. Ha Nguyen McNeill, the TSA's acting administrator, shared her concerns with lawmakers.

+ (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) HA NGUYEN MCNEILL: Paying these dedicated employees for the work they are performing should never be a point of debate, and yet here we are on the 40th day of our third shutdown this fiscal year. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: More than 480 officers have quit since the shutdown started. And at some major airports, McNeill says nearly half the staff are not showing up for work, driving up wait times to more than 4 1/2 hours in places. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) MCNEILL: Many in our workforce have missed bill payments, received eviction notices, had their cars repossessed and utilities shut off, lost their child care, defaulted on loans, damaged their credit line and drained their retirement savings. Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma and taking on jobs - second jobs to make ends meet, all while being expected to perform at the highest level when in uniform to protect the traveling public. MARTÍNEZ: McNeill says that without enough security officers, smaller airports might have to close. Recruiting is down, she says, and even if any new hires start today, it'll take at least six months before they're fully trained. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) MCNEILL: This is a dire situation. We are facing a potential perfect storm of severe staffing shortages and an influx of millions of passengers at our airports for the World Cup games in less than 80 days. INSKEEP: McNeill adds that a disruption on this scale is undermining the security of the U.S. transportation system. (SOUNDBITE OF AERIAL M'S "AASS") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(84)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();