Why larger airports suffer more during the DHS shutdown

Large airports are bearing the brunt of the partial government shutdown, as soaring absentee rates among Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers strain security operations and drive long lines at major hubs.

Call-out rates for TSA officers have surged nationwide as the shutdown stretches into its fifth week, with little sign of meaningful progress in Congress toward a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

Before the funding lapse, the national call-out rate hovered around 4 percent, the agency’s top official told lawmakers Wednesday. It has since climbed to more than 11 percent — peaking at 11.76 percent on Sunday.

At some of the country’s busiest airports, the spike has been far more severe. On Tuesday, Houston recorded a 43 percent call-out rate at its William P. Hobby Airport and a 39.8 percent call-out rate at its George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The same day, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City recorded a 36.8 percent call-out rate; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport recorded a 36.6 percent call-out rate; Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport recorded a 35.6 percent call-out rate; Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport recorded a 28.1 percent call-out rate; and Philadelphia International Airport recorded a 27.8 percent call-out rate. 

Smaller airports have not experienced the same widespread, hours-long wait times seen at some of the nation’s largest travel hubs, where passenger volume is significantly higher and where transportation security officers (TSOs) are calling out at rates nearing four times the national average.

Several factors help explain the disparity. Aaron Barker, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 554, which covers airports in Georgia, said many of the largest airports are based in metropolitan areas where the cost of living may prohibit TSOs from living close to work.

“The cost of living in a lot of areas are different. Day care fees, the cost of gas and things are different when you are in different parts of the country,” Barker said at an AFGE press conference on Tuesday.

“Most officers cannot afford to live in Atlanta, so they’re living an hour, up to an hour, sometimes an hour and a half away, to commute to work. So that is probably why you may see a big difference in larger airports — because most of the officers can’t afford to live in those large metropolitan cities based off of the salaries that they have,” he added.

Some union leaders noted that the larger metropolitan areas are often more spread out and therefore require more cost and effort to get to work.

“The issue in the metropolitan area of Houston is, to go from one side when the city starts, to the other side when the city ends, is, you know, easily 80 to 100 miles. It’s pretty spread out from north, south, east to west,” said Johnny Jones, AFGE TSA Council 100 secretary treasurer and president of AFGE Local 1040, which covers Texas airports.

Jones noted it may be difficult for employees to deal with “the economical impacts of fuel costs and other daily costs.”

Smaller airports also tend to foster more of a sense of community, and Jones said he’s seen some of the smaller airports get more local donations to support TSA workers as they continue to show up to work without pay.

“Some of the airports have received excessive amounts of donations for the employees, because these people know them on a first-name basis when they fly through,” Jones said.

“It’s such a small airport, so, because it’s more personalized … the donations have been excessively higher,” he continued. “I have an airport right now where we received over $5,000 in donations for 14 employees.”

“It doesn’t come like that in all the other airports,” Jones added.

Rebecca Wolf — who serves as president of AFGE TSA Local 1127, which covers Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming — similarly said smaller airports have seen communities come together in recent weeks, but she said many TSA officers are still struggling. 

“We’re smaller communities, so the outpour from the communities has been wonderful, as far as helping with food. They have been donating gas cards,” Wolf said. 

“But we are seeing callouts,” she continued. “It’s taken a toll on people. You can see it in their faces. People come to work crying. Some can’t come to work. It’s affecting them mentally and emotionally. It’s a bigger, broader thing, besides just the financial aspects. It’s really affecting them.”

Barker also noted that many of the smaller regional airports employ part-time TSA officers, “so they already have supplemental income, so you wouldn’t have the same struggle as if you lived in a bigger city where the cost of living is much more expensive.”

“But that doesn’t take away from the fact that those officers are still going without pay and experiencing the same strain that those are at large airports,” he added. “So just because you don’t see a wait time at one particular airport does not mean that those officers are not struggling.”

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