Travellers face longest wait time in history at US airports with queues stretching up to five hours
Wait times at the hubs have become the longest seen in history, with some lines for security stretching up to five hours.
Part of the reason behind the long queues is a shortage in federal security staff.
Some are striking due to not being paid since mid-February because of a partial government shutdown.
Airports including Atlanta, Houston and Georgia are struggling with the queues as a result.
'This has led to the highest wait times in TSA history, with some wait times greater than 4.5 hours,' she told Sky News.
Due to the staffing issues, major airports were experiencing 40 to 50 per cent call-out rates, which measures absence. The average is usually 4 per cent.
Wait times at the hubs have become the longest seen in history, with some lines for security stretching up to five hours
McNeill also shared there had been a 500 per cent increase in assaults and explained how some passengers had taken out their annoyance at the situation on airport workers.
Meanwhile, John Whitmire, the mayor of Houston, pushed for politicians to resolve the situation,
'The airport is a challenge because it's a federal issue. I would tell everyone to get in the room, all the stakeholders, the parties, and don't come out until you have a solution,' he told the Telegraph.
'It's a federal government issue, and it's happening around the country.'
One passenger, Robert Schwab, told KHOU television channel: 'I am really angry. I am sick of all these politicians. They are all full of it.'
TSA workers have been taking extreme measures to make ends meet during the pay freeze, and McNeill revealed to Congress on Wednesday that some had even been selling their own blood or plasma.
Others have apparently been sleeping in their cars at the airport to cut back on spending on petrol.
'[Some were] taking on second and third jobs to make ends meet, all while expected to perform at the highest level when in uniform to protect the travelling public,' she added.
On Thursday, US president Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order so that TSA agents would be paid immediately.
Earlier this week, he also made the decision to deploy ICE agents to some airports to help with staff shortages.
Pascual Contreras, TSA officer and union representative, commented on the deployment on BBC News: 'I don't think we need them here, we need to be paid, why would you bring another agency to be TSA when you already have TSA?
'We are trained to be in these checkpoints to use the equipment we use and anytime somebody interferes with that, it throws a wrench in the cog.'
Part of the reason behind the long queues is a shortage in federal security staff. Some are due to not being paid since mid-February because of a partial government shutdown
Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump made the decision to deploy ICE agents to some airports to help with staff shortages
On Wednesday McNeill told the House Homeland Security Committee that the agency is now 'being forced to consolidate' security lanes, and 'may have to close smaller airports if we do not have enough officers.'
'It is a fluid, challenging and unpredictable situation. We understand this is frustrating and disruptive,' McNeil told Congress. 'This is unacceptable.'
Travelers have been urged to get to airports more than two hours early because security lines are so slow, as wait times have lasted an average of 270 minutes in some of America's busiest hubs.
According to the White House, the agents have helped decrease airport wait times in recent days, but did not specify how that's been done.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the agents' presence 'is yielding results', and that the Trump administration has 'seen wait times decrease, not as much as we'd like.'
By midday Wednesday, New York's LaGuardia Airport saw a line that virtually extended the entire length of Terminal B, the Associated Press reported.
While many are experiencing lengthy wait times, and even flight delays and cancellations, other travelers have reported having a breeze of a time getting through their travels.
On Tuesday, Rod Redcay got to the Philadelphia airport two hours early and said he 'walked right up' to the security checkpoint.
'The only snag was forgetting to grab my laptop at security! Only noticed when I got to the gate. Thankfully I had plenty of time to look for it,' Redcay wrote on Facebook.
