Americans traveling around the country during the holidays could face longer wait times at airports if a partial government shutdown occurs, the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) warned on Thursday.
Congress and the Biden administration face a deadline of midnight on Friday to agree on a spending measure to fund the government, or else a partial government shutdown will begin. When partial shutdowns occur, government workers in non-essential stay off the job, though many essential workers continue to carry out their work for the duration of the shutdown without pay.
TSA Administrator David Pekoske noted in a post on X that most of the TSA’s workforce is deemed essential and will continue to help handle security at the nation’s airports. However, he warned that if there’s a protracted government shutdown, it could lead to longer wait times at airports for travelers.
“At TSA, part of DHS, about 59,000 of the agency’s 62,000+ employees are considered essential and would continue working without pay in the event of a shutdown. We expect to screen 40M passengers over the holidays and through January 2,” Pekoske wrote.
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“While our personnel are prepared to handle high volumes of travelers and ensure safe travel, please be aware that an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports,” he added.
The late December and early January period is expected to be a particularly busy travel period as it traditionally is given the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
AAA projected that the year-end holiday season would bring record levels of travelers, surpassing the pre-pandemic record.
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The AAA 2024 Year-End Travel Forecast projected that there will be 119.33 million Americans who travel during the year-end holiday season.
That total includes 107 million car travelers and 7.85 million air travelers, as well as 4.47 million travelers who use other modes of transportation.
AAA’s 2024 year-end travel projections are slightly higher than the record set in 2019 when 119.3 million Americans traveled during that period. That year saw 108 million auto travelers, as well as 7.33 million air travelers and 3.89 million who used other means of transportation.
The AAA projection also represents a 2.8% increase from 2023, with 2.4% growth in car travelers, plus a 4.7% rise in air travelers and 9.7% increase in other transportation modes.
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