Nearly 10% or 2,700 TSA officers across the country called in sick Tuesday, according to TSA data first obtained by ABC News.
Atlanta and New Orleans are seeing the biggest impacts, the data said, with nearly 40% of officers calling out in each airport. For context, about 2% of TSA officers call out on any given day across the country, the agency said in a report.
Travelers make their way through a security check point as TSA agents talk at Love Field Airport in Dallas, March 16, 2026.
Tony Gutierrez/AP
ABC News has producers at several of the airports that have seen the longest wait times in the past and has not seen any significant issues yet today.
Live wait times for Atlanta
Live wait times for Houston
Live wait times for JFK
One of the four security checkpoints at Atlanta remains closed today due to the staffing shortage. The airport also says it’s expecting more than 350,000 people traveling through the airport from Thursday, March 19, through Sunday, March 22.
Significant Major Airport TSA call outs for 3/17:
- JFK 30.1%
- PIT 29.1%
- MSY 35.8%
- ATL 34.6%
- HOU 40.8%
- IAH 28.3%
“The Democrats’ reckless DHS shutdown is causing TSA officers to go without pay for the third time in nearly six months,” a Department of Homeland Security Spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News. “Many TSA officers cannot pay their rent, buy food, or afford to put gas in their cars — forcing them to call out sick from work. Now, Americans are facing HOURS long waits at airports across the country. Democrats must reopen DHS now.”
This is a story in development.
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