Travelers at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport are standing for hours in security lines that may cause more risks for travelers — amid a DHS funding fight that’s resulted in TSA staff shortages at major U.S. airports.
The disarray was on full display Tuesday as our CBS News team stood in a screening line. After two hours in the TSA line, we emerged from a basement subway corridor after walking past three different terminals.
Late Tuesday morning, in Terminal E, the line extends three stories, including outside the airport terminal where lines are sneaking around the drop-off stations for buses.
Lines to clear security in Terminal A stretched across three levels and wrapped around three terminals in the subway corridor at the basement level, an area with no access to food, water, working air conditioning or restrooms — and limited cell service. From there, the line wound up escalators to baggage claim, then looped up a second set of escalators, finally surfacing at the third-floor ticketing area.
Passengers described wait times of five hours, with nearly everyone around me missing their flights, resigned to just rebooking on the other side of the security lines. Overhead announcements periodically advised those with departures within four hours to consider rebooking now.
The human toll was visible: families with young children, crying infants and pets confined to carriers stood packed into slow-moving lines.
One passenger, Summer Martinez, told CBS News she had already missed three flights and was back for round 4 of attempting to board a plane to Tulsa.
Tensions were high, but notably, frustration among travelers was not primarily directed at TSA officers. Many expressed sympathy for them and said they felt frontline workers have been placed in an untenable situation.
A pilot boarding the airport tram told passengers his busiest flight yesterday departed with just 50 passengers on a 220-seat aircraft, while others were even emptier.
On Tuesday, the TSA staffing shortage here was around 36% and has hovered in that range in recent days. While ICE personnel have been reassigned to assist, their presence was not evident along security lines this morning.
Among passengers, the prevailing sentiment was one of broad political frustration. Conversations in line frequently turn to general distaste for Washington, with some travelers openly calling for accountability.
“Remember to vote,” one traveler called out.
“For who?” Another chimed in, laughing.
For now, operations remain strained, with no immediate resolution in sight. The Senate may be closing in on a deal that would fund the Department of Homeland Security — except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement — and end the six-week partial government shutdown. Some senators expressed hope that the impasse could be resolved by the end of the week. Although ICE is part of DHS, it has already been funded separately through 2029 by last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
TSA workers are almost certain to miss their second full paycheck of the partial shutdown this Friday. After the shutdown began 39 days ago, they also received a partial paycheck with half their pay. Once the president signs legislation restoring funding, it’s likely to take about five business days before TSA workers see their paychecks restored.
Kaia Hubbard and
contributed to this report.
