Kelly Dearmore
Audio By Carbonatix
If you haven’t taken a flight in the past couple of weeks and haven’t been paying super close attention to national headlines you might not know that the U.S. is in the midst of yet another government shutdown. Unlike the historically long shutdown from earlier this year, the current one is a limited one, primarily affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
If you need to know why the DHS being affected by the shutdown matters in just about every major American city, it’s because the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lives under the DHS umbrella. So, there you go: airport security lines around the country are feeling the pinch.
The New York Times reports that around 50,000 TSA personnel have been working without pay for over a month while hundreds of agents have already quit. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been dispatched to some airports to assist with the crowds, including Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta, LaGuardia in New York, both HObby and George Bush airports in Houston and O’Hare in Chicago.
Luckily for travelers taking flights out of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the TSA wait times have been largely manageable, especially when compared to the three-plus hour wait times that folks leaving Houston’s airports have regularly been subjected to.
Johnny Jones, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local (AFGE) 1040, told WFAA this week that DFW has not seen the lengthy wait times of other airports “due to differences in management and stricter policies around employee call-outs.” In fact, more than a dozen TSA agents from DFW have been sent to Houston to lend a hand in a move the local TSA union rep called “unprecedented.”
The Atlanta airport has reportedly stopped providing current wait-time updates, instead simply warning travelers that they should allow for at least four hours for TSA screening. But what about those who have flights today or any other time before the partial government shutdown ends?
The easy guideline will be to get to the airport as early as you realistically can. But sometimes getting there many hours in advance is just not possible. Thankfully, there are ways to see what the current wait times are at many major airports, including here in North Texas.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
DFW’s official website has an easy to read map with the latest wait times for security (general, TSA pre-check and priority) as well as for check-in (kiosk, main, priority).
Dallas Love Field
The security page on Love Field’s official website displays current wait time for general boarding and TSA pre-check.
Other American Airports
The New York Times has an interactive map showing TSA wait times for many airports from around the country. Some airports do not have current wait times available, however.
The MyTSA app provides airline passengers with around-the-clock access to “the most frequently requested airport security information on any mobile device.”
AirlineAirport.com provides a range of news and updates for all major American airports. Enter the airport you are departing from in the main search bar, and select the “wait times” tab a the top of the page to get the current wait times.
