As long security lines form at airports across the country amid the partial government shutdown, the weather did not help travelers heading to or from Boston’s Logan Airport Monday.
Agents with the Transportation Security Administration are being left without paychecks while the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded, and some airport workers are calling out.
Hundreds of flights to and from Boston were canceled or delayed Monday, according to FlightAware.
A group of middle school students from Orlando, Florida, ended up sleeping at Logan overnight.
“I’m exhausted,” Rick Tischler, the trip’s chaperone, said Monday. “We were supposed to fly back yesterday, and we were supposed to be home by now.”
He added that some members of the group have medical issues.
“My son is one of them,” Tischler said. “He is diabetic. Thankfully, I did bring enough insulin to last a couple of extra days, but if this lasts much longer, I don’t know what I’m going to do for him.”
Airports in New Orleans and Houston were experiencing longer than normal wait times in TSA checkpoint lines over the weekend.
Massport said it was not seeing staffing issues at Logan Monday, but aviation experts are advising people to build in extra time and pack extra essentials in carry-on luggage just in case.
More than 300 TSA officers have walked off the job nationwide, including 30 in New England.
“A lot of people, unfortunately, are making the decision to quit the agency because they have to find a job that pays them,” said Mike Gayzagian, a local TSA officers union leader.
He said the longer this standoff lasts, the higher the risk.
“TSA is a public safety agency, and all of these officers — their primary job is to make sure that the people who mean to do us harm do not get on airplanes, and so they’re obviously distracted,” Gayzagian said.
Aviation analyst Seth Miller says what you see at the checkpoint can change day to day, because it all depends on who shows up.
“Things could get bad in a hurry, and the worst part is we don’t necessarily know if it’s going to happen until we’re already there,” he said.
