The United States government has been mentioned in the news far too often as of late, and that trend doesn’t look to slow down any time soon. Between yesterday and today, dozens of local airports across the country were home to spiraling lines and delayed flights as TSA was left understaffed due to a partial government shutdown. A video demonstrates the chaos caused by severe understaffing at a New Orleans, Louisiana, airport, with long lines through the outside parking lot as people wait with their luggage.
The issue has been posted all across social media from various airports throughout the US, with thousands of people wondering when they’ll be able to take their flights.
The above video was posted to the social media platform by user @lexi_raylene, who shows viewers exactly what the partial government shutdown has already caused. Across the video is text that reads, “TSA line all the way outside through the parking lot.” Sure enough, hundreds of people can be seen in different lines as the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport experienced a shortage of TSA workers.
Reportedly, wait times were up to three and a half hours at this particular airport, but that’s just one of many. Many other local airports, like the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida and Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, also reported similar delays, prompting travelers to plan ahead.
Not only is TSA affected, but other government agencies, including the US Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, US Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs Border Protection, and the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency, are as well.
Partial Government Shutdown Leads to Insanely Long TSA Lines
Many people in the comments don’t seem to be all too surprised about this, as it isn’t the first time within Donald Trump’s presidency that the government has shut down. In fact, many people even joked about the lines, with one person even saying, “Make sure to arrive 2 days before your flight,” and another saying, “what my dad thought the line was gonna be like when we pulled up to the airport 6 hrs early in 2009.”
Another video posted to the same account shows another angle of the chaos from inside the airport. The lines are so pushed into one another that it almost looks like crowds of people sardined together. Hopefully, things can start smoothing out as the week goes on, though it looks like it’s going to be rough for travelers hoping to spend spring break somewhere.
