GoKawiilThis past weekend, employees of the Transportation Security Administration missed their first full paycheck due to the partial government shutdown. Not surprisingly, many of those security officers have quit or stopped showing up for work, leading to airport staffing shortages.
The loss of TSA officers and a new batch of extreme weather in the Midwest and East Coast are creating havoc at airports across the US. Some travelers at Atlanta's Hartfield-Jackson airport on Tuesday waited more than two hours in the security area before being allowed to travel to their gates, and Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl said that the government may need to shut down some airports completely.
Don't be surprised when you get to the airport and see the security line trailing out into the parking lot. It's easy to check security wait lines before you leave for the airport, so you know how long it will take you to get from check-in to your gate.
If you have spring break or other planned air travel coming soon, learn how you can check security line wait times so you can better plan your trip to the airport.
Check the official TSA app
The TSA maintains an app for mobile devices called MyTSA (iOS and Android) that lists security line wait times for airports around the US. The app is fairly basic and now includes a warning that "this website is not actively managed" due to the pause in federal funding, but it does include plenty of official TSA information about airline travel.
To check the wait times for specific US airports, tap the My Airports tab at the bottom of the app, then tap "Search Airports." You can scroll through the alphabetical list of airports or type in an airport name or code in the search bar at the top.
The TSA app will give you a 15-minute time range for security lines. Screenshot by CNET
Tap through to the airport of your choice, and you'll see the current estimated security wait time at the top of the screen.
When I checked some of the major airports Tuesday afternoon -- Los Angeles (LAX), Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta (ATL), JFK in New York (JFK) and Ronald Reagan in DC (DCA) -- most had estimated relatively low wait times of 0 to 15 or 15 to 30 minutes (only JFK was 30-45 minutes).
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