APTOPIX Travel Delays

Tens of thousands Transportation Security Administration officers are set to receive another $0 paycheck this week. A dispute in Congress over funding the Department of Homeland Security has held up their salaries since mid-February. With monthly bills coming due, many of these federal employees are making difficult choices about how to make ends meet while continuing to screen passengers and luggage at airports across the U.S. In Indianapolis, a TSA officer has turned to a local food bank. A married couple in Florida is worried about providing for their family while the DHS shutdown holds up both their incomes. A father of three in Utah quit his TSA job to find one that pays.

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport shows how the partial government shutdown is straining air travel as TSA workers miss shifts without pay. Long security lines have hobbled airports across the U.S. But problems at Bush Intercontinental have been more pronounced. Union and airport officials have offered a variety of reasons why Bush Intercontinental seems to be worse than other airports. These include the Houston airport having one of the highest callout rates among TSA workers in the country due to economic challenges, higher passenger traffic as the airport is a major hub for United Airlines, and a busy tourism month for Houston.