Government shutdown

Shutdown over (for now); support for airport workers continues

Funding for all parts of the US government has been reinstated – for three weeks – and TSA, FAA, CBP and other federal employees who have been required to work – without pay – are now expecting paychecks and back pay.

But life for many of these people has been disrupted. And paychecks may not arrive until February 1, or later. That means many airports will continue collecting and distributing community donations of foods and gift cards to these workers.

Seattle-Tacoma Internatoinal Airport will continue collecting donations through Friday, February 1. Here’s the list of what has been donated over the past two weeks:

7,000 diapers

650 donuts

10 crates of fresh fruit

Thousands of dollars-worth of gift cards

Three weeks-worth of hot meals

At Los Angles International Airport, workers will continue to receive free rides on the FlyAway bus and waived or deferred parking fees until paychecks start flowing.

Last Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he directed the L.A. Department of Water and Power as well as the city’s Bureau of Sanitation to offer assistance and payment plans for water, power, sewer and trash services. That includes plans that spread payments out over an additional three to four months.

Other airports will continue their support efforts as well.

And on Friday, United Airlines announced a donation of $1 million to Feeding America’s Shutdown Response Fund to support the food banks providing food for families of federal workers who need assistance following their loss of income.

“Even with [Friday’s] announcement, there is continued need among federal employees, in addition to the important programs that Feeding America administers,” said United CEO Oscar Munoz, “We continue to urge our leaders to work in a bipartisan way over the coming weeks to ensure long-term certainty on which our industry and the overall economy depends.”

More TSA no shows; but more support for TSA workers

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.

TSA getting love + shutting checkpoints

As the partial government shutdown slogs on, the Transportation Security Administration says an increasing number of its officers are facing financial difficulties and not showing up for work.

That’s causing longer wait times at some major airports around the country. It’s also forcing some airports to close some checkpoints.

Checkpoint A was closed at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

And the security checkpoint in Terminal B continues to be shut down at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

TSA officers, air traffic controllers and other federal workers who have been showing up for work at airport may not be getting paychecks, but across the country, they are getting lots of love, food and assistance from airlines, airports, restaurants, community groups and the general public. Here’s a slightly updated version of the story I filed this weekend for CNBC.

At Bellingham International Airport in Washington, about 20 miles from the Canadian border, budget airline Allegiant Air provided pizza for TSA workers on Thursday.

In Las Vegas, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak not only visited with TSA workers at McCarran International Airport to express his appreciation for their service and commitment to the airport and to the community, he followed up by having hot pizzas delivered.

These, and many other pizza thank-yous, are coming on the heels of last week’s gesture of goodwill from Canadian air traffic controllers who sent more than 300 pizzas to their counterparts in more than 40 airports in the United States. Air traffic controllers in the Canadian city of Edmonton got the (dough) ball rolling.

Of course, TSA and FAA employees working without paychecks can’t live by pizza alone.

At Seattle Tacoma International Airport, donations of non-perishable food and gifts cards are being collected and distributed daily.

Seattle-based Washington Federal is offering interest-free, 90-day loans, with no loan fees or application fees, to TSA, FAA and other federal workers waiting for paychecks in eight western states, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.

“We are proud to step in and help our hard-working neighbors get through this uncertain time and support their financial needs,” said Washington Federal President and Chief Executive Officer Brent J. Beardall in a statement, “We hope other financial institutions will do the same.”

And in San Jose, California, the City Council this week endorsed Mayor Sam Liccardo’s proposal to set up a no-interest short-term loan program for many of the 500 federal employees who have been working at Mineta San Jose International Airport without pay.

The program, which may be funded through airport revenues and administered in partnership with one or more financial institutions, proposes loans equal to monthly take-home pay for FAA air traffic controllers, TSA workers and officers working for Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“We are going to do everything in our power to keep political dysfunction in Washington from creating service disruptions or safety issues here in San Jose,” said Liccardo. “Mineta San Jose International Airport is vital to our local economy and we need our highly-skilled and trained federal workers there to keep it running smoothly. That’s why we are exploring tools, like these local bridge loans, to help keep these essential workers on the job.”

Meanwhile, across the country, airports continue to gather and distribute donations for federal employees affected by the partial government shutdown.

At Orlando International Airport, there has been overwhelming response to a donation drive headed up by the Airline Management Council. On Thursday the airline tweeted a short video of a room with tables piled high with everything from donated diapers to toilet paper and canned goods.

As the shutdown continues, airlines, airport concessionaires and other groups are stepping up with donations, discounts and support.

“Today we were able to help surprise the Sunport’s @TSA with gift cards to local grocery stores and lots of goodies to fill their break room for a few days – all thanks to the wonderful folks with Indivisible Nob Hill and Resist Tyranny Tuesdays,” Albuquerque International Sunport tweeted, along with photos.

And on Thursday, “It was our turn,” St. Louis Lambert International Airport, said in a tweet, “The #stlairport and @HMSHost provided lunches to all @TSA officers this morning and afternoon. We appreciate your huSTLe and dedication. #ThankyouTSA.”https://twitter.com/flystl/status/1086018922267193344

More love for unpaid airport workers

Gov’t shutdown causes closed checkpoints – and pizza – at airports

The partial shutdown of the federal government is taking its toll on airports.

On Saturday, Miami International Airport closed one of its security checkpoints because airport officials were worried there wouldn’t be enough TSA employees on duty to keep all the airport’s checkpoints open.

The airport plans to reopen the checkpoint on Monday morning.

On Sunday afternoon, Houston’s George Bush International Airport (IAH), shut down the TSA checkpoint and ticketing counter in Terminal B. The reason? Concern about staffing issues associated with the partial shutdown of the federal government.

If the government shutdown continues, we can expect more of these checkpoint closures to take place. Passengers will be directed to other checkpoints, where lines will no doubt get very long.

And outpouring of pizza

While long lines are surely frustrating for travelers, there is an outpouring of support for the TSA workers, air traffice controllers and customs and border protection workers who are working without pay.

On Friday, Nashville International Airport sent pizzas to TSA employees at the airport working without pay.

And Canadian air traffic controllers showed their support for their American counterparts by sending pizzas as well.

Elsewhere, there’s a pop-up food pantry for TSA employees at Tampa International Airport.

At Your Gate is offering $10 off and waiving the delivery fee for food delivered to TSA employees on duty at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). The offer will expand to other airports where the service is available (San Diego International Airport, New York LaGuardia Terminal B, JFK and MSP) later this week.

Federal workers working without pay at Ontario International Airport were treated to a barbecue on Friday. Food was supplied by the Ontario Reign Hockey team and other groups in town.

On Friday, Pittsburgh International Airport served lunch to federal workers at the airport and plans to do so each Friday until the shutdown is over.

Seattle Tacoma International Airport will hold its second information fair on Monday to help federal employees working without pay learn about short term loans and other resources that may be available to them.

And, as we reported earlier, Hudson Group, which operates shops in many airports, is offering a 20% discount off food, beverages and many store products to all TSA and customs employees until the shutdown is resolved.

OTG, which operates retail outlets and restaurants in 10 airports, will offer TSA employees a 50 percent discount on food and beverage through the duration of the government shutdown too.

If you learn of any other efforts underway, please let us know.