Long waits snarl TSA lines, foil Las Vegas reporter’s homecoming from San Diego

With airport security and wait times in a state of flux due to an ad hoc staffing situation at TSA checkpoints, travelers across the country face long wait times and uncertainty as they navigate airports, as an 8 News Now Investigator saw firsthand in San Diego Monday.

TSA officers haven’t gotten a paycheck since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security partly shut down on Feb. 14 due to a partial government shutdown. Now, long lines for TSA checks can keep people from getting through security for considerably longer than normal. 

TSA callout rates climbed over the weekend. Nationwide on Sunday, 11.8% of TSA agents missed work — the highest rate of the shutdown so far — with more than 3,450 officers calling out, according to DHS. More than 400 officers have quit during the shutdown, the department said.

Armed federal immigration officers in tactical gear moved through terminals at some of the busiest U.S. airports Monday, standing near security lines and checkpoints after President Donald Trump ordered their deployment.

In San Diego Monday, travelers were advised to arrive at the airport two to four hours early, according to 8 News Now’s sister station in San Diego, KUSI. Arriving 40 minutes ahead of time, one reporter found out, was not enough to catch a 7:10 a.m. flight. Finally catching a 7:55 a.m. flight back to Las Vegas was only possible because some airlines were holding certain flights open a little longer to accommodate otherwise stranded passengers.

The line, while stifling in its magnitude and chaotic, winding length both inside and outside San Diego International Airport, was mostly calm. San Diego Harbor Patrol and other law enforcement could be seen with some TSA agents herding dumbstruck passengers who could often be heard asking, incredulously, “Is this the line?” 

Identical scenes played out in both major terminals at San Diego International, both indoors and extending down sidewalks on either side of any entrance. 

Another flyer, who traveled Monday to Las Vegas from Burbank’s airport to appear on 8 News Now, described an even worse situation, with passengers stuck waiting at gates there, sitting on the floor and up against walls, with very little space to share.

Reid Airport in Las Vegas, though, had smaller lines to get into the airport. But passengers described having to deal with getting to connecting flights after enduring warfare to get on their originating flights.

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