The Transportation Security Administration is sending out daily reports on the number of officers who are not showing up for work and wait times at the nation’s largest airports.
No surprise, the numbers of ‘no shows’ has been rising as the shutdown drags on.
On Sunday, TSA reported, 10 percent of its workforce had “unscheduled absences” compared to a 3.1 percent rate one year ago on the same day.
“Many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations,” says TSA.
On Sunday, the average security checkpiont wait times at most of the busiest airports were well within TSA’s ‘normal’ range of 30 minutes. But keep in mind hundreds of flights were canceled on Sunday due to weather, so lines may have been light anyway.
Still there were some ‘wowsers’: On Sunday, travelers waited an average of 28 minutes on line at Tampa International Airport, an average of 35 minutes at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and an average of 45 minutes at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
The outpouring of support for TSA workers, air traffic contollers and other federal employees who are showing up for work continues.
This week, TheFruitGuys will be delivering boxes of fresh fruit (and, in some cases, take-home veggies) to TSA workers at airports in Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
At Your Gate has expanded its offer of free meals ($10 off, plus free delivery) to TSA workers at airports in San Diego, Newark, New York (LaGuardia and JFK) and Minneapolis.
And SFO Airport is asking onsite shops and restaurants to offer 50 percent discounts to federal employees who continue to work without a paycheck.
To help out, “SFO will adjust its fee structure to protect voluntarily participating concession operators from any financial impact of this discount program,” the airport said in a statement.
SFO is also providing resource sheets to help affected workers access assistance services, and the Airport’s Business and Career Center is offering “Shutdown Support” drop-in hours where affected workers can meet with specialists on managing unexpected financial challenges.
Thanks for visiting Stuck at the Airport. Subscribe to get daily travel tidbits. And follow me on Twitter at @hbaskas and Instagram.