Some airport security lanes to close as shutdown pinches TSA

Bloomberg

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to begin closing a handful of security checkpoints at airports around the US as soon as this weekend in response to staff shortages as impacts of the three-week partial federal government shutdown begin to expand.
Miami International Airport has shut one of its concourses for several days and has moved flights to other gates, according to a statement by the airport.
More than 51,000 TSA employees have been on the job without pay since December 22 and missed their first paycheck last week. The agency saw a 55 percent increase in employees calling in sick, from 3.3 percent a year ago to 5.1 percent, spokesman Michael Bilello said.
While impacts to travellers as a result of airport security screening has so far been minimal, airports fear it could rapidly worsen, said Christopher Bidwell, a senior vice president at the Airports Council International-North America in Washington.
“We’re very concerned that the current situation with government employees going without pay is unsustainable in the long term,” Bidwell said. “We certainly have to be mindful of the potential for cascading operational impacts.”
Bilello said on Twitter that the TSA is working with “stakeholders and industry partners to explore efforts to consolidate officers and operations.”
Stress on the system may soon start causing flight delays, said Trish Gilbert, vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
The union, which represents more than 10,000 air-traffic controllers, filed suit in federal court in Washington, charging that it’s illegal to force them and other aviation employees to work without compensation.
Concourse G at the Miami airport is already closed till Monday and travellers will be directed to other checkpoints.
United Continental Holdings Inc operates some flights at that concourse.
“We will work to ensure we do everything we can for our customers and we do not expect any operational impact,” said Frank Benenati, a United spokesman.
TSA hasn’t heard of any other airport planning to shut an entire concourse like the one in Miami, Bilello said. It’s routine for TSA to open and close screening lanes as volume at
airports rises and falls.
Airport security officers, along with air traffic controllers and employees at more than a dozen US agencies and departments, have been caught in a political battle between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over whether to fund a border wall with Mexico.
The security screeners and controllers are among workers declared essential to security and safety and have been ordered to work without pay.
The lawsuit filed by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union charges that Trump, the Federal Aviation Administration and other US officials are violating workers’ constitutional rights by “depriving them of their hard-earned compensation without the requisite due process.”
The union is seeking a temporary restraining order to force the government to pay employees. In some cases, the lack of pay is having a “devastating effect” on employees, the suit said.
The TSA has vowed to take steps to ensure that screening of people and bags at airports isn’t compromised by the shutdown.